Mumsnet users talk online safety and cyberbullying with Kaspersky

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Many children are now growing up with technology at their fingertips and social media often at the centre of their digital world, making it more important than ever to discuss online safety with children and be aware of the effects of cyberbullying. Kaspersky would like to hear about the ways you protect your children from bullying when they’re online.

Here’s what Kaspersky has to say: “Do you really know what your kids do online? Can you be sure they’re safe when connected? Kaspersky gives you new and better ways to keep your kids safe on PC, Mac and Mobile."

Do you have tips for talking about cyberbullying with your children? Do you utilise parental control technology so you know what’s going on in their digital world? If your child has experienced cyberbullying, what advice do you have for other parents?

Whatever your tips or experience, share this below to be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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As most of the kids homework is online these days they were very aware of all the positive sides of being online and the school barely touched on the cyberbullying side so this is something that we sat and spoke about indepth and also their views on what they thought this would be.
We also as parents have all the passwords of their social media accounts and spot check their phones and wouldn't hesitate to act if we found them bullying or being bullied.
I feel a lot of parents are needing to take responsibility.

I have parental control on all my devices, my little ones are too young to use social media, they are 5, 3 and 2. The only time they use my mobile or iPad is to play game apps which I have downloaded for them and they watch kids youtube

We have been caught out with musically as I did not realise ppl can message on that. Since then v strict.

I've always been honest about how not everyone is kind and how it can be very dangerous online I won't allow my children on any technology without me knowing all their account details and they know it's because I want to keep them safe I think my kids are more aware than I am whenever it comes to cyberbullying

I recently found out exactly how serious and dangerous the world is these days for our youngsters the hard way and tbh it's scared the life out of me
My son is 14 but when he went into senior school he wanted social media as all his friends had it I agreed
I would do regular "spot checks" on his phone despite his protests but I wernt being strict enough and I wasn't doing them often enough
He started to hang round with a group of girls and then his mood behaviour and attitude changed for the worse and when questioned he started to say he was being bullied at first I told him to basically deal with it thinking it's just kids being kids and part of growing up

When I did a random spot check on his phone tho my heart sunk and my blood run cold
I found lots of private messages on snap chat and Instagram calling him gay encouraging him to self harm and even telling him to kill him self
This hit me hard like if been punched in the stomach and I realised this was serious
Perhaps even more disturbing he had been talked into joining Instagram teen dating pages where 1000s of kids upload pics of themselves and give out personal details it's basically a Paedos paradise it's really scary to look at the pics and their bios knowing their putting themselves in such danger
I pulled my boy out of the school
They didn't take my issues seriously enough for my liking and as we were in the middle of buying a new house in a different area I was fine with him leaving there a few weeks early
I went to the police and I even contacted the child protection agency about the Instagram sites as well as reporting them my self to Instagram annnnnd they both came back with the same reply they met their guidelines and were not taken down as far as I know the particular Instagram dating sites are STILL live!!! And I'm disgusted by it
I banned him from social media for nearly a year
We have since moved his in a new school he's happy got lovely friends and he's like a different kid now he's also been allowed to open social media accounts again BUT I have very strict controls rules over them complete access to them and keep a very close eye on what he's doknf both publicly and in private messages the internet is a wonderful invention unless your the mum of a teenager then It's a very dangerous mine field just be aware and be strict and be careful

They are always supervised when online

thankfully we have not had any experience of cyber bullying or other bullying. Dcs not really on social media. but we have talked about this and safe internet usage.

discuss it and keep access to where we are

bullying on any level is unacceptable. i taught my children at an early age what constitutes bullying and how its unacceptable to either do or receive.

My dd uses the internet but has no phone and thankfully has had no experience of cyber bullying! We use parental controls on the computer and She doesn't have any social media at the minute and id like to keep it that way for a while but realise how difficult that could be to monitor!

My daughter has learned to block and ignore these people after taking time of social media as peoples opinions can often hurt

Educate yourself on the matter first. Take an active interest in social media and familiarise yourself with the safeguarding tools available first. You need to be able to speak authoritatively on the matter and not resort to 'because I said so!'.

We have parental controls enabled via our internet provider, plus we do not allow our 13 year son to have social media accounts such as facebook, instagram etc.

Be open and honest. Have regular frank discussions about online risks and safety issues. Also encourage conversation by being (or pretending to be) interested in what they are doing or watching online.

Not yet as my dc aren't old enough but I absolutely will be talking to them about it as soon as they are. It's a big worry these days!

We encourage openness. But we also encourage them not to be so absorbed in their ipads.

I would encourage openess with my children. I encourage them to come to us with any problems they have, to be confident in our relationship to come to us for anything. I will also hope that they will concider their actions and how those affect others.

I try to keep tabs on what their going on and who their friends are. I alway warn them of the dangers and tell them to inform me if anyone says or does something wrong. It can easily get out of hand so just got to watch out.

My son is autistic so have always had maximum parental controls on, he is easily manipulated so have repeatedly warned him about online bullying as he is an easy target for peers. He also only has online access in the kitchen or sitting room where he is always supervised.

I was lucky that my daughters school had a whole term where they learnt and discussed issues such as cyberbully. The parents all got called in for a meeting to see some videos the kids will be watching and learn what they will be talking about. This opened up a window for us as a family to share our thoughts and teach our children about this. We sat down together with no distractions/TV etc and had a good talk and asked the kids questions too so I could work out what they took from the discussion and if they understood. I got some great links from the school for YouTube and various professional websites for videos which can help you and your child with talking about these issues.

I have told my kids about it

Generally schools are good on this but there is a responsibility for parents to monitor children online. Not only that but it is important that children have varied interests and friends so that they can escape bullying of any kind and find refuge elsewhere.

My son is aware of all the cyber bullying that goes on, Ive told him not to get involved if he sees it, As I dont like keyboard warriors, hes 15, and to let me know immediately if he does see it. Im fortunate that it hasnt happened to either of my children, my kids fb are set to private, so only their friends can interact, it is a worry, but both my children tell me everything, so Im on top of it.

I have spoken to my children about cyber bullying and also online safety and being aware of what they are posting. They also have had talks about it at school. I think it is important to make sure they can talk to us and they are aware of what cyber bullying and are savvy on what they are sharing and posting . It is such a big part of teen /adult life now that I think it is really crucial that we educate our children about this , put safety measures into practice and are savvy ourselves so we can keep on top of how our children are using social media.

DD doesn't get unsupervised screen time, we have told her that there are mean people who say mean things and to always tell us if someone says anything to her.