How to help kids get over cyber bullying trauma

New Delhi: With cases of cyber bullying on the rise, experts believe that empathising and having an open conversation is the ideal way to deal with children who have undergone the traumatic experience, which often causes them to become withdrawn, secretive, aggressive, depressed or even prone to self-harm.

According to a list of recommendations compiled by Kaspersky Lab, hearing your kids out, without any preconceptions or judgement, is the first step towards healing them.

The international software security group quoted Lisa Wright, co-founder of anti-cyberbullying educational initiative Webiket.com, as saying, "Remember that establishing trust and engaging in a heart-to-heart conversation early on is the first step towards dealing with a cyberbullying situation. An ongoing approach of assessing the situation and devising strategies to deal with both the cyber bullying problem and your child's emotional state, must follow."

Caron Mullen, a cyber psychologist also weighed in by reiterating the importance of the child's emotional state and warned against resorting to actions that could exacerbate the problem. He noted, "The long-term objective is to help build the child's resilience, enabling them to cope with problematic social experiences without psychological harm. But the first and most important step is for the parent to gain the child's trust so the burden can be shared."

As part of the campaign against cyberbullying, Kaspersky Lab has launched a new interactive portal, Words Can Save, which contains information about the issue and guides parents through indirect signs of cyber bullying in their children.