Prevent Cyberbullying

Lower the risk of cyberbullying by being careful about online personal information.

StopBullying.gov and StopCyberbullying.org advise the following:

Always think carefully about what you are going to post or say online. Don’t share secrets, photos or anything that might be embarrassing to you or others if it fell into the wrong hands. Remember: You don’t have complete control over what others forward or post.

Set privacy settings on your accounts. Make sure that you’re only sharing information with people you know and trust. Pay attention to notices from social networks, because sometimes privacy settings change.

Do a search of your name. Profiles you created in the past may be sharing your personal information. Any information you posted about yourself on a Web page (blogs, forums, free services, groups, etc.),  may be publicly available if privacy settings were overlooked at the time, or changed later without your knowledge.

To do a search for yourself, use quotes around your name, like “Johnny Appleseed.” Also search for your email address, nicknames, blog names or other information. By doing this, you can see what’s publicly available about you and fix it if necessary. Note: Try these same searches in “Images” to see what’s readily available there as well.

Learn more:
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying Effects
Stop Cyberbullying