Cyberbullying
Text bullying
Vodafone NZ and Telecom NZ have joined with NetSafe to fight text bullying. There are colourful brochures and posters to help reinforce the message that such behaviour needs to stop and perpetrators can be caught. It is also important for people being victimised to come forward and get support and help. They need not feel alone - the bullying can be stopped.
Click here to find out more about text bullying and what you can do to stop it.
Click here to find out what you can do to stop bullying and identity theft on social networking websites like Bebo and MySpace.
Cyberbullying
22.5% of the respondents of the 'Girls on the Net' survey had felt unsafe or threatened on the Net and for many that came from harassment. It's important to remember that you don't have to keep corresponding with someone who seems threatening. If they have your contact details, and are sending messages you don't want, they can be stopped. No one has to put up with that kind of behaviour; it can be very worrying, especially if you don't know who's sending the messages. If you start getting repeated messages, or you are experiencing bullying of another type, talk to a responsible adult about it.
Take a moment and think about the impact of messages you send as well. If you would be uncomfortable getting very suggestive, obscene or aggressive messages, so might other people. The person you might send such messages to may get upset. Words on the Internet have as much power as words face to face, so be careful how you say things. Even if you mean the messages to be a joke, such 'jokes' can have serious consequences for you as well as the person you sent them to.
All of the above hold true for both emails and text messages. Be careful who you interact with and how much information you give out about yourself with your mobile phone. If you get harassing or nasty messages, the sender can be banned from sending text messages. In serious cases they can be identified and the behaviour stopped. Tell a trusted adult.
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