Cyberbullying and Addiction: What Parents are Missing Out

Technology has penetrated in our lives to an extent where smartphones, the internet, and social media have become a way of life. Though it might seem all fun and play, it isn’t! The twinkling online world has a dark side which has the power to crumble our lives – and it is doing it in many ways.

One of the rising issues of today’s technology-driven world is cyberbullying. It means harassing, abusing, and slandering someone in the online world through the internet. Now bullies are not only found fuming on playgrounds, backstreets or classrooms. They have entered our house through the internet, and the worst thing is that we mostly don’t know who are they and where they live.

This situation is alarming!

What Parents are Missing Out:

According to a report by TeenSafe, 42% of adolescents reported being the victim of cyberbullying, and this report was published back in 2016. Since then, the menace of cyberbullying has only increased.

Parents might think that their child is living a happy life, but in reality, he might be in trauma due to online threats, false rumors, mean comments, and humiliating pictures. Many cases of teenagers’ committing suicide have been registered over the world over due to cyberbullying. Some teenagers who manage to refrain from suicide end up becoming depressed and addicted to drugs. Besides family history, personal problems, and peer pressure, cyberbullying has also become a trigger of drug addiction in the young generation.

Though you can take your child to drug rehab for addiction rehabilitation and drug detoxification, isn’t it better to stop it from happening in the first place? Many parents are becoming aware of its threats, but many are still not aware of the existence of the cyberbullying and its repercussions on their children’s life and mental well-being.

What Parents Can Do:

Though “rotten eggs” have always been part of the society and parents of all generations had to struggle to save their child from them. But things are way more difficult to handle now. Parents don’t know who the bully is, where the bully is, whom to complain and report the bully to stop him or her from ruining their child’s life.

But it doesn’t mean that parents should just sit back and watch their child’s life getting ruined. 

Parents need to become smart, and they should devise an effective strategy to save their children from becoming a victim of a malicious internet world. If you are also one of the struggling parents, then here are some tips for you:

Improve Communication:

Never let the communication gap come between you and your child. The communication gap between parents and children is one of the biggest causes of distress in teenagers’ lives. When they don’t have anybody to discuss their problem with, they mostly end up taking wrong decisions and relying on the wrong means for comfort. Improve communication with your children so they can talk to you whenever they are facing any issue.

Monitor Online Use:

If you are not tech-savvy, then become so for your child’s betterment. Learn to use the latest communication gadgets and digital media platforms to monitor the online activities of your child. Set some rules and keep a check on which websites and social media platforms are appropriate and which are not.

Give Proper Guidance:

Sometimes children themselves are not aware that the thing which is causing unrest in their life is actually cyberbullying. Parents should guide their children to which behavior they allow and which should not be tolerated. Moreover, also guide them on how to handle such situations without feeling stressed or intimidated.

Conclusion:

Today's parents need to learn new parenting techniques to cope with the challenges technology is tossing their way. Parents should be aware of the challenges of the new world. Only then they can devise appropriate strategies to save their children from its dangers – which is very much needed.

This is a guest blog entry.