How to protect your child from social media cyberbullies

Shield your child from bashers and haters on social media by remembering these tips!

Try as we might to keep our children away from the negativity that’s so rampant online, there will be times when haters and bashers will find their way onto their feeds.

Even celebrity babies aren’t spared, like Bianca Gonzalez’ adorable baby Lucia or Andi Manzano’s little girl Olivia. Most recently, actress Claudine Barretto filed a complaint at the NBI against a netizen who had bullied her adopted daughter.

While we hopefully don’t need to go to that extent to protect our little one, following these tips will help keep their feeds positive and kid-friendly.

1. Make sure photos are private

Remember: cover photos on Facebook are automatically viewable by the public, so be careful what photos you choose. Make a habit of checking comments or messages on your account and your child’s account to remove or report anything offensive before your kid sees it.

2. Hide offensive comments on instagram

There is a great new tool on Instagram that allows you to hides spam and negative comments in posts and live videos. It can also amazingly filter out offensive comments in nine different languages.

photo: dreamstime

3. Make sure to keep circles small

Be more wary of accepting friend/follower requests, even if you have mutual friends with them. It’s pretty easy to make fake accounts and just spread hate online, keeping your social media circle helps you control the culture of your feeds.

4. Don’t allow them to use gadgets unsupervised

Make sure you’re beside your kids during gadget time, so as to make sure they are only exposed to kind, positive words and images. If they do encounter negative content, being by their side will allow you to guide them and explain to them why bullying online is just as bad bullying offline.

How do you protect your kids from cyberbullying? Let us know in the comments below!

READ: Teenager creates brilliant new app to prevent cyberbullying

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Bianchi Mendoza

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