This year is off to a busy start as I’m on tour to work with students, teachers and parents in an effort to prevent bullying. My perspective as a former victim of bullying resonates with kids because they know that I’m not just an adult offering clichés, but that I really know where they’re coming from. I know about the pain of being left out in school, but found a way to avoid feeling like a hostage because of the way I was treated in school. My goal is always to help kids get past bullying to enjoy a positive and joyful future.

I try to pay attention to new trends in bullying and learn from the kids I work with at schools. Cyberbullying continues to be a growing threat, as students become ever more sinister in their use of the Internet to bully unsuspecting classmates. Already this month, many moms have approached me to share tips and advice on how they address online issues with their children. Here are some highlights:

• “I have an Internet curfew – my kids aren’t allowed on the computer after 9:00PM. I find that a lot of the nasty instant messaging tends to occur later at night, and a curfew is a subtle way to protect my child.”
• “We have the family computer in a common, open area in our home so that I can monitor my child’s computer activity.”
• “I limit the amount of time my child is allowed to be on the Internet for non-school work use, such as social networking or downloading music.”
• “I’ve made it a point to get to know the parents of my child’s closest friends, making sure we get together socially on a regular basis. We talk about our kids and our concerns, and act like an informal support group for one another. Usually, if something’s up with one of our kids, one of us will know about it and we’re able to address things before they go too far.”

And my favorite:

• “My husband and I talk to our kids, we hold regular family discussions about school, what’s going on in their lives, and we ask questions, we show an interest. We also do things together with our children and make spending quality family time together a shared priority. It requires a little extra effort on everyone’s part, but it’s worth it.”

Of course, while the above ideas are wonderful, it doesn’t hurt to have the extra protection of SocialShield. Sometimes, no matter how sincere our effort to protect our kids from cyberbullying and other dangers, we need a helping hand that can provide assistance beyond our reach.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start, and I look forward to posting here again soon!

For more information, please contact me at jodee@socialshield.com.