- Educate your students, teachers, and other staff members about cyberbullying, its dangers, and what to do if someone is cyberbullied.
- Be sure that your school’s anti-bullying rules and policies address cyberbullying.
- Closely monitor students’ use of computers at school.
- Use filtering and tracking software on all computers, but don’t rely solely on this software to screen out cyberbullying and other problematic online behavior.
- Investigate reports of cyberbullying immediately. If cyberbullying occurs through the school district’s Internet system, you are obligated to take action. If the cyberbullying occurs off-campus, consider what actions you might take to help address the bullying:
- Notify parents of victims and parents of cyberbullies of known or suspected cyberbullying.
- Notify the police if the known or suspected cyberbullying involves a threat.
- Closely monitor the behavior of the affected students at school for possible bullying.
- Talk with all students about the harms caused by cyberbullying. Remember — cyberbullying that occurs off-campus can travel like wildfire among your students and can affect how they behave and relate to each other at school.
- Investigate to see if the victim(s) of cyberbullying could use some support from a school counselor or school-based mental health professional.
- Contact the police immediately if known or suspected cyberbullying involves acts such as:
- Threats of violence
- Extortion
- Obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages
- Harassment, stalking, or hate crimes
- Child pornography
Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services