PARENTS/FRIENDS/SUPPORTERS

If you have a child with an account on Ask.fm, Kik, or Snapchat, look through their account. A child is anyone 18 yrs and younger. Look to see what your children are doing - and when you are done, DELETE their account! The majority of these type of sites are not easily traceable if traceable at all and are magnets for cyber bullying. Especially ask.fm. Your child asks/receives questions and anonymous posters answer/leave comments. Because this interaction is often anonymous the answers can be cruel and crude in nature.

In many cases the registration of these domains are provisioned and hosted overseas. This means they are not subject to U.S. law. Basically, they operate outside U.S. jurisdiction.

BE RESPONSIBLE

If your child uses any of these sites it is a good practice to monitor their activity. Logging in as them will ensure that when you go to their notifications, you can see not only what is posted to them, but what THEY post to others. Often posts can be made while hiding the status from certain "friends" in their settings  (i.e. you). These are children, we need to control the level of privacy we give them. There is way too much cyber bullying breaking our children down mentally & emotionally and leading our kids to take their own lives. Be responsibe and don't allow your child to have their phone in bed at night. Take the phones/tablets and place them in the kitchen or in your care nightly.

TALK TO YOUR KIDS AND THEIR FRIENDS

In many cases children will not tell you if they are getting bullied. You have to talk to your children and learn to read them in order to extract information. You will have to dig deep within the child. There are tips for doing that on this website under the tab to the right called "Bullying...the Facts".

YOUR CHILD MAY BE A BULLY

Some children are very strongly opinionated and not afraid to speak their minds. This type of personality is great and will often result in motivation to become a leader over certain groups of friendships. But unfortunately, it also can result in that person gaining power over those that are not as strong, and in some cases this dominance leads to inadvertent bullying. Speak to your children about respect for boundaries, differences, and being kind to those who don't display an extraverted type of personality. To reach out to the shy and lonely.

EDUCATE AND BE KIND

We were put on this planet to be kind and lift one another up, not bully. Our hearts are always with those families that have fallen victim to bullycide. Our hearts are also with the families of the tormentors. There is no doubt these children have no idea of the power in the tongue, words sharp like swords. These young people have to cope with the loss of life, due to a combination of their bullying actions. Lastly, stand firm with us and vow to do your part in making sure we don't lose any more children. As Jaylen said recently to a group of children in a school-wide assembly:

"Life is precious. This stage in our life is only but a minute of our entire lifespan. Don't hurt yourself. Speak up. Don't let me down! Bullying No Way!"