How to deal with cyberbullying

- Discourage your child from responding to cyberbullying. Cyberbullies crave attention, so if your child doesn?t react, they might decide to move on.

- Preserve evidence. This is crucial for indentifying the bully and making a case.

- Try to identify the cyberbully. Even if the cyberbully is anonymous or using a fake name, there may be ways to track the person through their Internet service provider. If you suspect that the cyberbully is involved in criminal activity, ask police to investigate.

- Consider contacting providers and filing complaints. Sending inappropriate language may violate the ?Terms and Conditions? of e-mail services, Internet service providers, Web sites and cell phone companies.

- Block future contact. If the cyber-bullying is coming through e-mail or a cell phone, it may be possible to do this.

- Contact your school. If the cyber-bullying is occurring through a school district system, school administrators have an obligation to intervene. Even if the cyberbullying is occurring off
campus, make school administrators aware of the problem.

- Consider contacting the cyberbully?s parents, if known. They may be very responsive, effectively putting a stop to it. On the other hand, they may become defensive, so proceed cautiously. If you decide to contact a cyberbully?s parents, communicate with them in writing, rather than face to face. Present proof of the cyberbullying (e.g., copies of e-mail messages) and ask them to intervene.

- Consider contacting an attorney in cases of serious cyberbullying. Civil law may provide for a remedy, if other efforts fail.

- Contact the police to pursue criminal remedies if cyber-bullying involves acts such as: threats of violence; extortion; obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages; harassment, stalking, or hate crimes; or child pornography.