As a teacher or school staff member, there are things you can do in the battle against online bullying.
Support: Provide the person being bullied with support and reassurance. Tell them that they did the right thing by telling. Encourage the child to get help from parents, the school counsellor, principal or teachers. Ensure they know that there is support there for them
Evidence: Help the child keep relevant evidence for investigations. This can be done by taking screenshots or printing web pages. Do not allow the deletion of phone messages
Inform: Give the child advice for making sure it does not happen again. This can include changing passwords, contact details, blocking profiles on social networking sites or reporting abuse online
No Retaliation: Ensure that the young person does not retaliate or reply to the messages
Privacy: Encourage the child to keep personal information private on the internet
Investigation: The cyberbullying claim needs to be investigated fully. If the perpetrator is known, ask them to remove offending remarks or posts. All records should be kept as part of the investigation.
Report: Abuse on social networking sites or through text messaging needs to be reported to the websites and mobile phone service providers
Guidelines: Your school will have a number of policy documents which you can refer to. These include the Acceptable Use Policy, Anti-bullying policies and Behaviour and Disciplinary Policies
