With February 9th observed as “International Safer Internet Day” Inspector Karema Flood of the Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPU) in conjunction with Cybertips, highlighted two areas of major concern impacting teenagers, cyberbullying and sexting. Before you engage in either activity, take a minute and think before you click.

Cyberbullying:

Cyberbullying gives the illusion of anonymity made possible by the Internet. Cyberbullying appears easy to the bully because they do not see their victims’ reactions in person, and thus the impact of the consequences may seem small to them.

In reality, however, these consequences can be life altering to the extent that victims may become distressed enough to require medical intervention, self-harm, or worse. The ironically individualistic nature of social networking activities makes it difficult to recognize a victim of cyberbullying, but tell-tale signs include, avoiding or being anxious around the computer or cell-phone and a sudden change in behavioural patterns.

Sexting:

Sexting, the action of sending sexually revealing pictures of oneself or sexually explicit messages to another individual or group, is becoming increasingly common activity among adolescents using social media. The permanence and pervasiveness of the Internet, make it a fertile ground for passing such messages and images, at the risk of them becoming viral. Beyond the personal trauma and humiliation that sexting may cause, there are judicial ramifications as well.

Depending on the age of the subject, sharing these images could result in those involved being prosecuted for various child pornography offences which carry a term of imprisonment up to ten years.

Inspector Flood reminded: “Cyberbullying and sexting can have serious negative impact on young people. VPU advises against engaging in such activity since what might appear on the surface to be harmless or fun could result in individuals being prosecuted before the courts.

However, more importantly, the negative psychological and emotional impact on victims of cyberbullying or individuals who may have explicit images they shared with someone being revealed to others, could be long lasting and have tragic consequences.

There is a wealth of information about safe internet use available on the Cybertips website: www.cybertips.bm. We urge parents and guardians to become familiar with Cybertips, and make use of the invaluable information available there.

Remember, Think Before You Click

To report instances of Cyberbullying, sharing of explicit images without your permission or child pornographic images, please call the Vulnerable Persons Unit on 247-1739 or, the main police number, 295-0011.