Cyberbullying

On Safer Internet Day, we share 12 year-old Ira's story, who experienced cyberbullying in Belarus and was able to stop it.

*the photo is illustrative

Every day, 172,800 children around the world go online for the first time, facing real dangers in the virtual space. In Belarus, about 95% of children use the internet. Evidence shows, parents are increasingly handing mobile devices to their children in the first three years of life. By the age of 4-6, half of the children already have their own phone or tablet. 

"I like bloggers, so I wanted to start a blog on social networks myself. I began recording stories as soon as I woke up, made short videos with friends during breaks, and then showed what I did after school. A person with a carnival mask as his avatar subscribed to me. He never posted anything, but he constantly wrote to me about which things in my room he liked, what clothes I should wear more often, and which of my friends I should not hang out with. 

I realized that this person knew so much of personal information from my stories, and I didn’t even know his name. I asked him to stop writing, but he continued. It started to feel like someone was always watching me, even in real life. I slept poorly at night, looked over my shoulder on the street, got irritated over trivial things, and sometimes started crying for no reason." 

To help children and teenagers who face bullying online, UNICEF and MTS launched #InternetWithoutBullying initiative. The main goal of the initiative is to provide information on safe behaviors online and help tools in case of bullying. It is vital to pass knowledge to children and their parents on how to safely use the online space and avoid dangers and provide information on where to turn to when a child faces a problem. 

"One day, I saw a poster at school with a helpline number. I decided to call this number and share my story. The psychologist explained that many children face such situations. It's the downside of popularity she explained to me. However, I have power to stop bullying - I can delete my account, close it to strangers, or block a particular person. The psychologist also advised me to tell my parents that I felt unsafe. This really helped me. I talked to my mom, and we decided that only my friends would be in my blog. Let there be fewer likes, but I will feel safer." 

If you are facing cyberbullying or other problems, you can call the hotline for children and teenagers (available 24/7, the call is anonymous and free) at 8 801 100 16 11. 

To learn how to deal with cyberbullying, protect personal information, and not become a victim of fraud, how children should act online, and how parents and teachers can help teenagers, UNICEF, together with partners, developed a lot of useful information. You can find it here.