Cyber bullying

What does it mean?

Cyber bullying is bullying using modern technology, such as social media, chat applications, gaming platforms, and mobile phones, and it is a repeated behavior aimed at intimidating, provoking, defaming or harassing a person 

Examples

• Posting lies about a person or posting embarrassing pictures of him on social media 
• Sending threats via messages. 
• Impersonating a person and creating a fake profile for him. 
• Dissemination of personal information of a person such as address and phone number.. 
• ridicule and belittle a person in a group conversation. 
• Capture an embarrassing video or photo of a person and share it online without permission 

How do I differentiate between joke and bullying?

If you feel hurt, this means that this joke has crossed its limits. 
Also, if the person continued this even after you asked him to stop and said that you were upset. 

Sometimes cyber bullying attract the attention of a wide range of people, including strangers. If this happened and you don't agree, you will never have to put up with it. 

It is important to know that all people have the right to be respected, whether in the real world or on the Internet. 

It is also important to know that cyber bullying is not rare, on the contrary, according to research; about 7 out of 10 young people have been abused online at some point

Effects of bullying

When someone is subjected to bullying, he feels as if he is being attacked and surrounded from every side. What is published on the Internet will not be erased or end easily. That is why the effects of cyber bullying can last for long periods, including: 

• Feeling upset, ashamed, sad, angry, lonely, wanting to be isolated and losing interest in the activities you love. 
• Feeling of stress, insomnia and exposure to health problems such as stomach pain and headache. 
• deterioration in academic performance, absence from school or school leaving. 
• Low self-confidence and self-esteem. 
• Exposure to cyberbullying makes us vulnerable to psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression and drug addiction. 
• Exposure to cyberbullying can lead to suicidal ideation. 

What can I do if I am bullied online 

• Remember that you are not alone and you do not have to go with this. 
• Prove bullying by taking a screenshot or video as an evidence. 
• Talk to an adult you trust, such as your parents or your teacher at school

Talking to your family may not be an easy thing, but we can try to make this step a little easier through these tips:

• Choose a convenient time when they are not busy and in complete attention. Explain to them how serious the problem is for you. They may not be familiar with the technology that you are familiar with, so you may need to help them understand what is happening. They may not have immediate answers, but eventually they are your family and they want to help you, and two heads are better than one.

you have an option to block the bully and report abuse, on certain social websites such as Facebook and Instagram..
you can report the department of the Ministry of the Interior concerned with internet crimes
If it is a life threatening matter, you can report it to the police

If you are emotionally and psychologically affected or you feel depressed or anxious, you can call the psychological support hotline of the General Secretariat of Mental Health or go with a parent to the adolescents clinics in hospitals of the General Secretariat of Mental Health.

You do not need to stop using the Internet, unless for a short period of time to allow you to recover. Bullying is not your fault, you are not the one who should be deprived of the Internet, and conversely, this may encourage bullies to continue their unacceptable actions

What should I do if my friend is bullied online?

• The most important step is to refuse participating in the bullying, to stop its spread. 
• Support him by active listening and giving him space to express his feelings. 
• Ask him how can I help you? 
•Tell him that the content can be reported and that he may need to speak to a trusted adult 

Tips for safe use of the Internet

what we post online is not easy to be deleted and could exist there forever, so anyone could use it to harm us later, that is why we try to use the Internet in the safest way to preserve our privacy, and secure our data against any intrusion: 

• Keep your apps updated to avoid hacking. 

• Use strong and unique passwords that are not easy to identify. “Do not use birthdays or phone numbers because they are easy to be guessed.” 

• Use the two-factor authentication feature: for example, password is the first step, then fingerprint is the second, and no one can log without the two steps together. 

• Choose from the privacy settings on social networking sites with whom you want to share your personal information, who can send you messages, see your profile or photos, or write comments. 

• You can “unfriend”, or block someone completely to prevent them from seeing your profile or contacting you. 

• Make sure that the links are safe before clicking on. They can be a way to hack your accounts. 

• Ignore suspicious messages, even if they look ordinary, like "you will earn something by clicking here or you will earn something by publishing this message".