REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cyberbullying has become a serious concern for parents and school officials. No wonder, with surveys such as Pew Internet and American Life Survey showing 33% of teens have been subjects of cyberbullying, and worse, others that say cyberbullying is rapidly increasing among kids and pre-teens.
The Personal Technology Experts at Support.com (Nasdaq:SPRT), a provider of technology services and software for consumers and small businesses, offer these 4 tips to give parents with young children a head start on preventing cyberbullying:
1. Educate Your Child: Kids are perfect targets for cyberbullying, as oftentimes the perpetrator is anonymous and will use methods like email and text messages, or the posting of private information, lies, and other misinformation on popular social sites. Reinforce to your child general safety rules and common practices when using the Internet, coupled with an open and frank conversation about cyerbullying, signs to look out for, and an explanation of why it can happen to them.
2. Shadow Them Online: If your kids are members of social networking websites, then signup, "friend" or "follow" them to know what they are posting, sharing, and receiving from others. Your grade-school child may not like this at first, but try to explain that this is for their own safety and not about snooping on them.
3. Set Rules: Kids can access the Internet at home, school, friend's house, library, or on their mobile devices. Be sure to set rules and guidelines for how long and when your child can use the Internet. Also, make use of parental control software and Internet safety tools to filter and manage Internet usage on PCs and devices.
4. Report it to Authorities: If your child becomes a victim of cyberbullying, report it immediately to local law enforcement agencies, their school, (even the Internet service provider who delivered it). Popular social sites like Twitter (https://support.twitter.com/forms/abusiveuser) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/report) have dedicated pages that make it easy to report incidents. You can also report all incidents to the U.S. Department of Justice: (http://www.justice.gov/crt/complaint/#three).
About Support.com
Support.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:SPRT) provides technology services and software for consumers and small businesses. Support.com® Personal Technology Experts provide a quick, cost-effective and stress-free technology support experience over the Internet and the phone using the Company's advanced technology platform. Support.com also offers a wide range of easy-to-use software products that detect and repair common computer problems and optimize performance and security. Support.com offers programs through many of the nation's leading retailers, broadband service providers and technology companies, and provides software to over a million consumers and small businesses. For more information please visit us at: www.support.com, www.facebook.com/support.com, or http://twitter.com/support_com.
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