Parents, teachers and others working with you people should:

1. Inform children about what Cyber Bullying is and its potential harmful effect upon others.

2. Encourage them to report Cyber Bullying as soon as they suspect it may be occurring.

3. Talk children through appropriate responses to cyber bullying.

4. Reinforce the idea that not everyone is cyber space is who they may be claiming to be and that personal and contact details should not be readily made available to others.

5. Inform the child that whatever is posted online is virtually impossible to erase and that they should therefore be very careful of what images or comments they post as they may be there forever for everyone to see.

6. Encourage the use of the Internet primarily as a very valuable tool for learning.

7. Finally encourage old fashion face to face communication with friends in the safety of their own home.

Bullying is a crime in Victoria and if you are the victim of such behaviour you should report this to the police. For further free advice contact Victims of Crime Counselling Services on freecall: 1800 000 055.

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