How to shield your child against cyber bullies

28/11/2015 Pritima Osman from Department of Justice's Child Justice and Childrens Courts speaks about various aspects of cyber bullying during the South African Police Service SAPs Community Outreach Programme and the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, the Sunnyside Cluster organized an information session. Picture: Phill magakoe

28/11/2015 Pritima Osman from Department of Justice's Child Justice and Childrens Courts speaks about various aspects of cyber bullying during the South African Police Service SAPs Community Outreach Programme and the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, the Sunnyside Cluster organized an information session. Picture: Phill magakoe

Published Dec 29, 2015

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Pretoria - The Department of Justice has warned parents to assume a more proactive role in monitoring their children’s social media activities to help prevent them from falling victim to cyber bullying.

Pritima Osman, from the department child justice and children’s court, said monitoring their internet and social media usage would also help parents to check if their children were perpetrators of bullying.

Osman said the most important thing for parents to do is to raise awareness and reporting bullying to schools, or to the police if the bullying is persistent. Bullies should not be put through shock therapyto make them aware of their actions, as previously reported, but victims should rather inform their parents or teachers, she said.

Our work is to protect children, not harm them. It is guided by and aligned to the Constitution and the Children’s Act,Osman said. The Justice Department was working with Basic Education and the police to tackle the issue.

The Basic Education Department had even developed a booklet to inform pupils and parents about cyber bullying, she said.

The affected person should never feel like they are alone. They should speak up immediately. Parents need to be aware of and have regular talks about cyber bullying. Like the old way of bullying, cyber bullying also causes harm.

Osman has in the past given a presentation at Oos Moot High School as part of the SA Police Service community outreach programme and 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign. At this talk, she highlighted signs parents needed to take note of in case their children were victims of cyber bullying.

There are signs such as depression, or children who are normally active becoming withdrawn. Parents need to report it to the school for some form of intervention. That could save a child’s life. Parents could also seek help from social workers and psychologists. The Children’s Act states that bullying by another child can be considered as abuse and charges can be laid against the perpetrator. Pritima Osman from the Department of Justice child justice and children's court warns about cyber bullying.

Pretoria News

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