Jessica HickmanThought Leader | TEDx Speaker | 2 x Author | Leadership

Combatting Cyberbullying: A Parent's Guide to Protecting & Supporting Youth Online

Name: Combatting Cyberbullying: A Parent's Guide to Protecting & Supporting Youth Online
Uploaded: 2023-10-24T16:54:55+00:00
Duration: 27 s
Channel: Jessica Hickman
Description: In this segment of a YouTube video, Jessica Hickman discusses how technology has eliminated the separation between school, work, and home, intensifying…

24 Oct 2023 · 0 min

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0:27

In this segment of a YouTube video, Jessica Hickman discusses how technology has eliminated the separation between school, work, and home, intensifying youth anxiety and mobile‑phone addiction. She emphasizes that parents must build and maintain trust with their children so teens feel safe disclosing any online harm—whether it’s non‑consensual sexual images, harassing comments, or compromising photos. Hickman advises parents to consistently check in and reassure their youth that they will be supported if they report cyberbullying. The conversation also touches on encouraging teens to act as upstanders, highlighting the need for proactive parental guidance in the digital age.

If we typically look at schoolyard bullying, it would end at the school day, or even workplace bullying, you would come home and be in, hopefully, in the safe haven of your home where maybe you could unwind, get some family support. But what we're seeing now with technology, there's no break between working, school, or coming home. And unfortunately, that's really impacted a lot of stuff I do with youths at the moment, is looking at the anxiety and the addiction to mobile phones.
How can you advise teens to be upstanders? As so often, cyberbullying is very targeted to the person and the individual.
My advice to parents always is to trust. So really building that trust with your child to let them know no matter what has happened online, whether someone shared, you know, a sexual image of you, which we see all the time, or nasty comments, or taking pictures of you at a party you shouldn't have been at, whatever it is, you can trust us and speak to us. You need to build that trust with your youth that they can come to you and tell you whatever. And that's my biggest advice to parents, really. And check in with them constantly and tell them that if there's something you've seen online, you must tell us and we will support you the best we can.