Ten tips for college students to prevent cyberbullying

In today’s world, technology and social media play an important role in college students’ lives, every one of us is depending on internet to connect with one another as well as managing each task in our daily life.

However, things come with pro and cons. Internet is the fastest way to connect with our peers but at the same time it leads to cyber bullying. There are many cyber bullying case happen around such as humiliating comments and posts in a social platform can seriously damage a student's confidence and in some cases could lead to self-harm or even suicide. Although this could be far from us but it is still a problem that we should concern about and do not ever let these comments to pull us down in our live.

Educate yourself: The first thing you must understand exactly what cyber bullying is. How would it affect your live and where it occurs, and gets to know about what are the things that your friends experienced in cyberspace.

Protect your password: Safeguard your password and all private information from inquisitive peers. You don't want to give them an opportunity to post false/private/embarrassing information or pictures on your social media pages.

Keep photos PG (Parental Guidance): Before you sending a photo to your friends / posting it online, consider if this is something you would want others to see, especially your family. Bullies can use this picture as ammunition to make your life miserable. Think wisely before you act.

Pause before you post: Don't post anything that can compromise your reputation. People will judge you based on how you appear to them online, and like point #3, bullies can use it wrongly. 

Raise awareness: Bring awareness to cyber bullying whether through a movement, a club, an event or campaign. Knowledge is power. 

Set up privacy controls: Restrict who can see your online profiles to trusted friends or close friends only. Customize your private setting is very important.

 "Google" yourself: Every once in a while search our name on all major search engines and see if any personal information or photos come up. If you find something that can be used by cyberbullies to target you, take action and have it removed.

Never open messages from people you don't know: Delete all messages without reading them from people you don't know, as they could contain viruses and infect your computer. The same goes for messages from known bullies. It is best to not engage and ignore them. 

Don't be a cyberbully: Remember the phrase your parents instilled in you as a kid "treat other as you want to be treated". If you are mean to others online, it reinforces the idea that that kind of behavior is acceptable. 

 Log out of your accounts on public computers: Similar to not sharing your passwords, don't give anyone the slightest chance to misuse your account or to share false information by using your account. Also, stay logged in, you run the risk of the bully changing your password and locking you out for a period of time. 

THE BEST WAY TO SOLVE PROBLEM IS TO PREVENT THEM…

Written By:

Chuang Vi Yen

Bachelor of Public Relations (Honours)
Tunku Abdul Rahman University College