When and How to Get Help When Things Go Wrong Online
If someone is being mean to you or has threatened you or someone you care about, you have to tell
right away. Even if you aren’t sure if they are serious. The thing to think about is whether or not they
scared you or made you worried. If so, you should get help from your parents.
Leave the screen open so they can see it and report it. Then do something else, offline, until you can talk with them.
If you end up at a bad site by mistake, don’t worry that your parents will blame you for going there. You
already got them to promise not to. Let them know right away. They can help you feel better.
If someone is threatening to hack you, has stolen your passwords (we’ll teach you how to make that
harder for them next) or accessed your accounts without your permission, let your parents know as
soon as you can. They may need to install or update your antivirus software and firewalls, help you get
your account back or notify the site that your account has been compromised. (That means someone
used it without your permission.)
StopCyberbullying.org say to “stop, block and tell!” if anything hurts your feelings or
upsets you online. Stop– don’t answer back, Block the person or message and Tell! a trusted adult (like
your parents).
