Parents, let's talk about it! Videos to guide and inform parents about cyberbullying

Today, cyberviolence is one of the biggest risks confronting children online and their parents are often unprepared to protect them from its ever-changing forms. "Parents, let's talk about it!" is a web series with practical advice for parents.

Date 2017-03-29 Author French Safer Internet Centre
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Cyberbullying is affecting children at an ever-younger age. In response, Internet Sans Crainte has teamed up with Tralalere, the MAE Foundation (number one in school assurance), and the FCPE (Federation of counsels of students' parents), to produce five videos to help parents recognise, understand, prevent and combat situations of bullying on- and offline.
 

In France, observers report a decline of traditional forms of bullying in schools. However, there has been a steady increase in cyberviolence and cyberbullying. According to EU Kids Online, 12 per cent of Europeans between 11 and 16 have experienced cyberbullying, compared to 7 per cent in 2010. Furthermore, 20 per cent of girls say they have been insulted online about their physical appearance in 2016, according to a study released in Ile de France by the Hubertine Auclert Center.

Parents often feel unprepared in the face of their children's new forms of communication and social networking. Also, because instances of cyberviolence take place in the digital sphere they often escape adults. This video series, accessible on the YouTube channel "Parents, let's talk about it!", allows parents to start a conversation with their children as well as detect, understand and prevent bullying.

The web series comprises five videos. The first four respond to parents' questions on four issues: how to raise awareness, how to detect bullying, how to start a conversation about it, and how to put an end to an instance of bullying. The fifth video addresses cyberbullying more specifically. The decision to use real questions from parents and not converting the entire conversation into one of morality has already proven its practicality in delivering advice to parents.
 
This project, highlighted on the bullying webpage of Internet Sans Crainte and supplemented by a series of articles on social networks, is accessible for free and has amassed more than 12,000 views since its release in January 2017.
 

To access the resource, visit the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) gallery of resources.

Find out more about the work of the French Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services.

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