How to Prevent and Protect Your Child from Text Bullying

Text messaging bullying is a type of cyberbullying. It is very serious and common among children or teenagers. It poses significant risks to children's mental health and emotional well-being.

Parents should consider the dynamics of text bullying, recognize the signs, and take proactive measures. This article will give you everything about text bullying. Let's get started.

What Is Text Bullying

Text bullying is a type of cyberbullying. It occurs on different online channels, such as instant messaging apps, social media platforms, email, and text messages. It involves various forms of bullying, including humiliating, threatening, or hurtful messages.

Here are some common types of text message bullying:

Direct Text Bullying

Direct text bullying involves sending threatening or hurtful messages to the victim. Examples include explicit language, insults, or disparaging remarks.

This type of behavior can cause emotional distress to the victim, and in some cases may lead to more severe intimidation or humiliation.

Group Chat Bullying

In group chat bullying, bullies target their victims with a range of abusive messages. Many individuals gang up to target their common victim. They coordinate with each other to ridicule or harass the target individual. The impact of this kind of bullying on the subject will be more severe.

Impersonation

It is an act of impersonating someone else to deceive or harass the victim. Perpetrators use fake accounts to manipulate others or to spread rumors. It may include tarnishing the reputation of someone. As a result, it damages the victim's credibility and trust.

Exclusion

Deliberately excluding certain people from any online platform, like a group chat or social event, is known as exclusion. It can affect the victim's self-esteem and mental health.

How Text Message Bullying Can Impact Your Child

Bullying texts can have profound effects on children's well-being. It affects their social interactions, academic performance, and emotional health.

Here, we'll discuss the real effects it can have. Understanding them can help you support and protect your child from the harm of text bullying.

Physiological and Emotional Impacts

• Increased stress, anxiety, and depression. Exposure to threatening or hurtful information can continually increase stress and anxiety levels. The persistent feelings of helplessness or sadness end up putting the victim into depression over time.
• Low feelings of self-worth or self-esteem. Text bullying might put your children in a situation to question their value and worth. It occurs because of eroding their level of confidence and self-esteem. They start comparing and believing themselves inferior to others.
• Fear and emotional distress. Ongoing emotional distress and fear of receiving bullying texts again are common among victims. They'll feel anxious and hesitate to interact with people both online and offline.
• Suicidal thoughts. In severe cases of text message bullying, vulnerable children may consider suicide. Your child may feel overwhelmed and think he/she might not get out of this situation anymore. These thoughts may eventually lead to self-harm.

Effects on Social Interactions and Academics

• Face difficulty in maintaining friendships. Children who receive bullying texts will find it difficult to maintain positive relationships. They will begin to isolate themselves from society, fearing betrayal or rejection.
• Social deactivation. Victims will try to withdraw from all social activities either online or offline. They do it to avoid any further embarrassment or harassment from their peers.
• Decline in academic performance. Bullying texts also affect children's ability to focus and perform well academically. They will feel it a burden to complete their tasks or to participate in discussions.

How to Prevent and Protect Your Child from Text Bullying?

It is no wonder to take proactive steps to protect your child from the harmful effects of text bullying. Here are some potentially useful strategies to consider:

Provide Essential Education on Text Bullying

Discuss with your child the types of text bullying and the possible consequences. Give your child the confidence to talk immediately after facing any type of bullying. Encourage them to trust their instincts and seek help if they feel uncomfortable or threatened.

Establish Rules and Regulations for Using Mobile

Set age-related restrictions to your child's usage of devices like a smartphone, laptop, and tablet. Ensure establishing rules for fixed screen time, responsible behavior, and appropriate content.

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• Set screen time limits
• Sync notifications and messages
• Restrict or block the use of certain apps
• Set bullying word detection to see if your child is being bullied

Moreover, teach them how to protect their personal details. Do not reveal privacy or share sensitive information with any untrusted individuals or strangers.

Appreciate Open Communication

Allow your child to share their experiences and concerns in a relaxed environment. Always encourage open discussion and listen to them.

In addition, ensure checking your child's online activity and interactions regularly. Try to show interest in their experiences and ask questions.

Teach How to Deal with Text Bullying

Educate your child about the strategies to take whenever they face text bullying. For example, not responding to bullies, saving harassment evidence, blocking messages, and reporting them.

Guide them to seek help from their family, friends, and counselors in case of text bullying. This will help them reduce stress.

How to Tell If Your Child Is a Victim of Text Bullying?

The first step to knowing if your child is facing text message bullying is to recognize the signs and symptoms. Here, we've summarized some important and potential indicators to help you identify if your child is a victim of text bullying.

Emotional Signs

• Sudden mood changes like high levels of sadness, anxiety, withdrawal, and irritability.
• Expressing feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or thoughts of self-harm.
• Displaying a sudden lack of self-esteem or self-confidence.

Behavioral Signs

• Reluctant to the use of technology, mobile phones, or social media platforms.
• Taking no interest in curricular or extra-curricular activities.
• Refusal to attend school or participate in activities with peers.
• Hesitate to spend time with friends and significant change in social interactions.

Physical Signs

• Complaining physical symptoms like disturbed stomach or headaches.
• Noticeable changes in eating habits, such as loss of appetite or overeating.
• Avoidance of discussing their online interactions or becoming secretive about their phone or social media usage.

Online Interaction Signs

• Unexplained changes in sleep patterns, such as difficulty falling asleep or frequent waking during the night.

What to Do If Your Child Is a Victim of Text Bullying?

If you notice that your child is being bullied by text message, take action immediately and try to resolve the situation promptly. Here we mention some important tips:

• Make sure to listen to your child's concerns and offer reassurance and proper support. Don't forget to validate their feelings.
• Provide emotional support and reassurance to your child. Let them know you are here to help and support them through this challenging time.
• Save the evidence of harassment, including dates, times, and necessary screenshots, and document it.
• Contact the relevant authorities either from your child's school or other and report your case. Ask for their assistance to address the situation.
• Encourage your child to ignore the perpetrators by either blocking them on social media or messaging apps.
• Seek professional guidance to address the emotional impact of text message bullying on your child.

What Other Types of Cyberbullying Exist beyond Text Bullying?

Text bullying is common nowadays, but other types of cyberbullying exist too. These can also affect your child greatly. Therefore, beware of them:

• Social media bullying
• Online forums bullying
• Email bullying
• Online game bullying
• Photos or videos bullying