SMILE

Staying safe and not being a victim of cyberbullying means keeping your personal details private, such as full name and phone number.  Never let anyone know your password and try to choose hard to guess passwords that include numbers and symbols such as $.

Make sure you think before sending a text or image of yourself or someone else.  Remember that once some information about you or others has been sent by text or posted on a social network, such as Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram  – it can be made public and may stay online for ever!

If you send messages to others remember to think about the impact of your words and images.  If you receive a rude, nasty or unpleasant message or image about someone else do not forward as you could be helping the bully, or be accused of being the bully or even break the law.

Let a parent, carer, teacher, anti-bullying coordinator or trusted adult know if you are ever bullied.  You can also call Childline on 0800 1111 in confidence.

Emails, text messages, chat rooms and social networks are some of the technologies that are used to cyberbully.  These technologies will all contain evidence of any bullying and this evidence can be kept and used as proof of cyberbullying.