Inglês

Parents may be tempted to take away a teen’s cell phone to prevent him or her from being a text bullying victim, or if he or she is already a victim, but this deprives teens of social connections that are very important to them and feels like a punishment for something that isn’t their fault. Fear of losing their cell phones is a major reason why teens don’t report text bullying. There are, however, other ways that parents can help combat text bullying: * Talk to your kids about text bullying and why it is wrong. Tell them if they ever are the victim that it’s not their fault and they won’t be punished. They should not respond to the bullying, but instead should save it to report to a parent. If the message is sexual or threatening in nature they can report it to the police, who can trace it and take legal action against the bully. * Consider having a cell phone use contract with your teen that forbids text bullying, including forwarding mean messages, even if someone else starts it. Take away the cell phone for a set period of time if the teen text bullies anyone. You can also limit the times when teens can use their cell phones, such as requiring them to turn it off at night, and reserve the right to ask questions about whom the teen is texting and what they are texting about. * If your child does not yet have a cell phone, wait until they are in high school to allow it. * Encourage your child’s school to ban cell phones during school hours. * Teach teens not to accept calls from someone they don’t know. * Encourage teens to think before sending messages, and not to send a message they wouldn't want everyone else to see since they don’t know if the person they send a message to may forward it to others, or if they are even texting the person they think they are. * Help teens block numbers that are sending mean text messages. * Tell teens not to let anyone else use their phone to send messages. * If the text bullying is