What to do when being bullied or harassed (done)

What can I do if I’m being bullied online?

Getting bullied on social media or through text messaging can feel really terrible. Being connected to your phone, tablet, or computer all the time means that a bully can sneak into your life and make it feel like there’s no safe place to be. But there are things you can do to stop online bullying.

The following are a few steps which can be taken to prevent bullying (Click on the triangle for further information)

Change your privacy settings.

Make sure that all of your social media accounts have very strict privacy settings. Set your accounts to “friends only” or “private.”

Block and un-friend.

Block any harassing accounts, email addresses, or phone numbers.

Keep your personal details private.

Don’t post your home address, phone number, school name, or any other personal information about yourself.

Take a break from your phone or computer.

If it feels like the online bullying just won’t stop, take a break from social media. Turn off your phone or put it out of your sight.

Save harassing emails, texts, or messages.

Take screenshots of harassment. This can be important evidence down the line.

Report bullying where it happens.

Report online abuse to Facebook or Twitter if you're bullied on those platforms. You can report to other site admins if you’re bullied on their sites.

Tell an adult that you trust.

Talk with a parent, teacher, coach, counselor, or someone who can be supportive. Adults can only help if they know about the problem.

Don’t respond to mean or threatening messages.

This can make bullying worse. Also, you could get in trouble if you make threats back.

Report serious threats to the police.

If someone threatens your safety or shares sexual pictures or video of you, report it to the police immediately.

It may be hard to care about a bully’s feelings, but people who bully are often in pain and insecure about themselves. So they’re unfairly taking their bad feelings out on you. It isn’t right, but it might help to remember that their mean actions are not about you. Their bullying is about their own insecurities. You’re valuable. You’re important to this world. And no matter what anyone might say, you didn’t do anything to deserve this.

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