We are all familiar with the typical stereotype of a "BULLY", we draw from our own experiences, movies, TV shows, and nightmares. Chances are a clear picture comes to everyone's mind when they think of a "BULLY". Equally true is that even as adults we are still dealing with "BULLIES". This is something we have all had to deal with and handle. Part of growing up.
When we were little the "BULLIES" met us on the playground, in the bathroom, or on the dreaded BUS! There were just a few of these kids roaming the halls, everyone knew who they were and to if possible steer clear. Often, the teachers knew who they were as well, and were able to intervene on occasion. We were able to escape the whole ordeal when we went home, or had a weekend. This gave us time to regroup, heal, and live to fight another day.
Flash forward to 2012...the World has changed. In fact, we have a NEW WORLD to explore called the Internet. Like any new undiscovered World, the Internet is full of wonder and excitement. It is also full of danger. Our children are the first generation of children that have grown up in this NEW Digital World! As many of you already know, they are embracing it and often know more about it by age 6 then we will ever know. They speak the language, know the customs, traditions, and are very comfortable using technology. Their brains are literally wired differently than ours, like any culture we are dealing with a generational gap. Our children are growing up fundamentally differently then we did. This causes some difficult issues to arise that our children are dealing with and we don't have a reference point from which to help them. Case in point..."BULLIES" today.
When I say CYBER BULLY what comes to mind? Chances are it is a little tougher to conjure up an image. Many parent's are at a loss, because we have never had to deal with a CYBER BULLY when we were growing up. BULLYING has changed in 2012, because our children are so connected via technology (the average teen spends 1 out of every 4 waking hours Online) they can literally be BULLIED 24/7. As if that weren't bad enough, the instances of BULLYING have gone through the roof. 160,000 students miss school everyday because of BULLYING. 6 out of 10 children say they have been CYBER BULLIED, yet only 4 out of 10 tell a parent. I don't know about you, but this sounds like our schools have become a WAR zone. CYBER BULLIES are using psychological torture and many are too immature to know how damaging that can be to a young person. This issue is going to continue to get worse, until we as parents get engaged and act now! We know we need to have the sex talk, and the drug and alcohol talk, but we need to be having the tech talk. Knowing what is going on in our child's digital world is something every parent needs to know. With 6 out of every 10 children being cyber bullied, chances are your child is being hurt by this and you may not even know about it.
Now that you know the difference, talk to your children early and often. Make sure you have the user name and passwords to all social networking sites they are using. Let them know you are going to have their back, even in this New Digital World. That there are dangers that they need to be aware of and you will confront those dangers together. If you would like access to a FREE tool that I use that gives me a window into the digital world of my two boys go to go.abeanstalk.com/Hannah
