What should I do if im being text bullied?

If you’re getting scary, mean or rude texts from someone (whether you know them or not), there are things you can do about it. The 5 steps below are one way how to deal with text bullies.

Step 1: Don’t text the bully back
You might feel like sending the person who is bullying you a text to make them feel as bad as you do. By doing this, you’ll become a text-bully! It’s a much better idea to ignore the message by not replying, and save it on your phone instead so that you can go on to step 2

Step 2: Tell an adult that you trust.
Being text bullied can be a scary thing. Although you might be worried about telling an adult (like a parent, or older sister or brother), it’s important that you do. Adults can help you make a complaint about the bullying to your telco (which can help stop it), and talk about how you feel with you. If you are worried about having your phone taken away from you if you tell; most adults know that being text bullied is not your fault.

Step 3: Ask the adult you’ve told to help you make a complaint to your telco.
Telcos have special teams that help stop text bullying. In order to make a complaint, you need to have saved 4 messages from the bully within 7 days (so, within a week). Ask the adult you’ve told to click here to read about how to make a complaint to the telco on your behalf (you’ll have to lend them your phone while they do this as they’ll need to read the messages out – again, don’t worry about getting in trouble as the person you’ve told should know that it’s not your fault!). The telco can then tell the person who is texting you to stop.

Step 4: Talk about how you’re feeling with someone
It’s ok to be upset by the text bully messages. You might even feel angry or hurt. It’s always a good idea to talk about how you’re feeling instead of keeping it bottled up inside. Talking can help you get over the bullying and make sure that it doesn’t effect you for a long time.

Step 5: Give yourself a pat on the back
Because text bullying can be a really scary thing, you’ve been incredibly brave in going through steps 1-4! Involving an adult and talking about your feelings are important things to do to help get the bullying stopped. You might need to go through the steps more than once if the person who is bullying you doesn’t stop when they’re told to, or if you get mean messages from someone else. Start at Step 1 – and remember, if you’ve done it once, you can do it again!

I’m being text-bullied by someone at school: what can I do?

It can be hard when someone who bullies you at school also bullies you by text. You might feel as though you can’t get away from them no matter where you are. The important thing to remember is that no one deserves to be bullied and there are ways to stop it.

Some ideas that can help you stop the bully:

• Don’t reply to the texts
• Always tell an adult that you trust about what is happening
• Even if you get the texts when you’re at home, if they’re from someone you go to school with you can tell a teacher or principal:
• It’s a good idea to save the messages on your phone to show them to an adult (even if they are really embarrassing, don’t worry – they’ve heard worse!)

One of the things that allows bullies to keep being mean is that people are too scared to ‘tell’ on them. It’s really important though that you tell someone so that the bully won’t get away with it. Click here to read more about the 5 steps to take to stop text-bullying.