This document provides tips for staying safe online and discusses the issue of cyberbullying. It recommends being selective about social media friends, choosing safe sites that are monitored, and not trusting messages that appear to be from friends. Parents should talk to kids about online dangers and not giving out personal information. Cyberbullying is a growing problem, with statistics showing that many children experience bullying online and through abusive messages, and may be too afraid to tell others.

1. How to stay safe online
By Ryan Ball

2. Intro
• Being able to stay safe online is vital because you never know who is
behind the screen at the other end. This is particularly useful on social
networking sites such as Facebook

3. Tips for staying safe online
• 1. Be selective about who you accept as a friend on a social network. Identity thieves might create fake
profiles in order to get information from you.
• 2. Choose your social network carefully. Make sure that when choosing the social networking site that
you wish to use, make sure you outline the important factors, Is the site safe? Is it monitored regularly?
• 3. Talk to your kids about social networking. If you're a parent of children who use social networking sites,
make sure they are aware of the dangers that can occur on these sites, and tell them to never ever give
out there personal information.
• 4. Don't trust that a message is really from who it says it's from. Hackers can break into accounts and
send messages that look like they're from your friends.

4. Cyber bullying
• One of the most common problems on social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’
and ‘Twitter’ is cyber bullying.
• Cyber bullying is the use of computers and other forms of technology to
harass, threaten and bully people on the internet, It is harmful and cruel to the
person who is on the receiving end of it and can sometimes drive people to
suicide. Cyber bullying is a growing problem all over the world. Most people who
are cyber bullied are too afraid to tell anyone what is happening to them and it can
have consequences. Cyber bullying is most common with teenagers but it can also
happen to adults too.

5. Cyber bullying statistics
• Statistics on bullying collated from government reports and research in November 2011
38% of young people have been affected by cyber-bullying.
• 30,439 children called Child Line in 2010/11 about bullying.
• Almost half (46%) of children and young people say they have been bullied at school at some point in
their lives.
• 38% of disabled children worried about being bullied.
• 18% of children and young people who worried about bullying said they would not talk to their parents
about it.

6. More cyber bullying statistics
• 38% of young people have been affected by cyber-bullying, with abusive emails (26%) and text messages
(24%) being the most common methods.
• 28% of children did not tell anyone about the abuse.
• A survey of pupils in England estimates that 16,493 young people aged 11-15 (4.4%) are frequently
absent from state school or home educated because of bullying.
• Two thirds (65%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people have experienced homophobic bullying at
school.
• Bullying was the main reason that boys called Child Line.
• Between 8% and 34% of children and young people in the UK have been cyber bullied, and girls are
twice as likely to experience persistent cyber bullying than boys.

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