23 Sep 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As the Term 3 holidays approach, we encourage you to visit the eSafety Commissioner’s website for resources and guidance on managing cyberbullying effectively. The information below provides helpful guides for protecting personal information and steps to take if your child encounters cyberbullying, helping us create a safer online environment.
Resources for the parent community
Information for parents can be found on the eSafety parents section of the eSafety Commissioner website.
We encourage parents to review the eSafety Guide which has information on games, apps and social media, including how to protect information and report inappropriate content directly to the relevant social media service first. It also includes links to apps such as Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram with information on how to access and change privacy settings. See some attached guides to staying safer on socials.
Other external guides include:
eSafety has also developed a series of webinars for parents and carers. Parents might also find Parent resources | eSafety Commissioner helpful.
Managing cyberbullying in general
To engage more safely on social media and deal with situations like this, we generally recommend the following steps:
- Take screenshots / recordings of everything and record relevant URLs (links) (for Discord, keep message links)
- Our general advice is not to engage with or respond to the abuse. Bullies usually like to know that what they say been read and that the target has been affected by their words, so replying to messages can inflame the situation.
- Report the abusive material / accounts directly to the social media service – don’t delete without reporting. If you are not satisfied with the response from the social media service, you can escalate the matter to eSafety. Refer also to info about collecting evidence.
- Restrict or block the abusive accounts
- Check that privacy settings are locked down to only allow people you know and trust to view your material and communicate with you
- Avoid looking at the material if it causes you distress
- Talk to a trusted adult e.g. parent, teacher, older sibling
- Report the cyberbullying to your school if it involves someone from school
- Reporting links guide
- Conversation controls guide
The eSafety Guide | eSafety Commissioner has information about how to report and block abusive content across most of the social media platforms used in Australia.