Tips on Handling Bullying from Leading School for Girls
Asheville, NC (PRWEB) August 04, 2015 -- Asheville Academy for Girls, a residential treatment center for girls 10 - 14, offers expert recommendations on handling cyberbullying and other interactions on social media. Asheville Academy for Girls understands the importance of safe social media usage and provides tips on how teens and families can handle negative online experiences.
According to bullying statistics from the I-Safe foundation, 25 percent of teens and children report being cyberbullied on their phones and on the internet. In a 2014 survey of teens, 7 in 10 reported being victims of cyberbullying in the past year.
As a residential treatment center in a traditional school setting, Asheville Academy for Girls has experience in assisting victims of cyberbullying and other negative online interactions. While reacting and responding to a cyberbullying attack, Asheville Academy for Girls offers the following advice:
- Save the evidence of cyberbullying. Take a screenshot and share it with a parent or other trusted adult.
- Be fearless. Don’t give up on reporting any continued cyberbullying.
- Don’t let the cyberbully keep communicating. Block their social media profiles, phone number, and email.
- Never give out personal information online. Giving out this information can make it easy for cyberbullies to find out more about you.
- Don’t reply to the cyberbully. Instead, report them as soon as possible.
- Protect all social media accounts. Don’t give out any login information, not even to close friends.
- Listen to cyberbullying victims. If your teen is being cyberbullied, listen to their experience respectfully and respond in an appropriate way.
“We hear it from our young girls and their families all the time-- cyberbullying is a growing threat among interactions between young people,” says Cat Jennings, owner and Executive Director of Asheville Academy for Girls, “It is important to remember to be relentless in reporting the person who is cyberbullying as it likely won’t stop until the victim gets the help they need.”
Research featured by the Cyber Bullying Research Center indicates that teens who are targets of in-person bullying are at higher risk for online bullying.
“This research would suggest that in-person bullying combined with online bullying increases the emotional harm that is aimed at the victim”, commented Mary Flora MA, LPC, LCAS, LPCS, CCS and Clinical Director of Asheville Academy. “The digital attack a cyberbully can launch through one pejorative post on social media rapidly increases the hurtful consequences through mass exposure. This can result in a viral character assassination enlisted through online bandwagoning and scapegoating. This type of peer assault can be devastating to a teen when developmentally they are at a stage when peer acceptance is a primary need they are trying to meet. Parents need to pay careful attention to any evidence their child or teen is a victim or perpetrator of online bullying.”
Asheville Academy recognizes that many of the students at their residential treatment center have been the recipient and sometimes the deliverer of cyberbullying. As a response, Asheville Academy holds quarterly seminars involving expert panels and presentations to provide parents and students with the information they need to respond effectively to cyber bullying and negative online experiences.
For more information about preventing cyberbullying, please visit:
Stopbullying.gov: http://www.stopbullying.gov/
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Asheville Academy for Girls, based outside beautiful Asheville, NC, is a residential treatment center for young girls ages 10-14. Asheville Academy for Girls understand the challenges young girls go through, and their advanced clinical approach and highly qualified staff helps young girls get back on the right track in their lives. At Asheville Academy, girls discover their inner confidence and reconnect with their families. For more information, please call 800.264.8709 or visit http://ashevilleacademy.com/.
Cat Jennings, Asheville Academy for Girls, http://ashevilleacademy.com/, +1 828-772-7200, [email protected]
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