Better Internet for Kids

Cyberbullying is defined as the intentional and repeated insulting, threatening, or humiliating of a person via digital media. Because content spreads rapidly online and is difficult to remove, cyberbullying reaches a particularly wide audience. 

On the internet, victims are also exposed to attacks around the clock. Furthermore, perpetrators can act anonymously, which lowers inhibitions and often makes the attacks particularly severe.

This resource collects a series of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) that support parents, caregivers, teachers and educators.

Anyone who goes online will sooner or later be confronted with unpleasant content such as hate speech. To ensure children learn from the outset how to counter hate without fueling the conflict themselves, they need plenty of practice, education, and good role models. 

This handbook addresses precisely that need: it shows children and young people that they don't have to simply accept online hate, but can take action against it – for example, by responding skillfully!

For teachers and educators of students aged 9-12.

The SaferInternet.at website (part of the Austrian Safer Internet Centre) has a collection of practical teaching examples and exercises focusing on cyberbullying. 

Teachers and educators can use the case studies and scenarios provided to encourage discussions, start conversations, and practice appropriate responses.

Help, my child is being bullied on WhatsApp. What can I do as a parent?

In our parenting guide, we try to provide answers to the challenges of raising children in the age of the internet and mobile phones.

Do you have questions or would you simply like to know more? 
Then send an email to office@saferinternet.at with the subject line "Ask Barbara!".

Find more videos and information at www.fragbarbara.at

Discussions online are becoming increasingly heated. Sometimes they even escalate into outright hatred. 

How should we deal with this? Barbara provides some background information on how this situation arose and what can be done about it.

All episodes can be found at www.fragbarbara.at

Bullying, whether physical or psychological, as well as its “online” form (cyberbullying), is one of the serious risks that affect the lives of children and young people, and can affect each of us at least once in our lives. We can find ourselves in the role of a victim, a witness, or even be close to the aggressor or his helpers. It can happen almost anywhere – at school, in a sports or hobby group, at a camp, in a children's home, other institutional or alternative family care facility. Or at the workplace and in the online environment.

This page by the Bulgarian Safe Internet Centre (SafeNet.bg) explains cyberbullying among children and provides guidance on prevention and intervention. 

It details how online bullying occurs 24/7 through fake profiles, offensive messages, and shared media, causing severe emotional distress and isolation. 

To protect children, parents are advised to maintain open communication, boost self-esteem, enforce strict social media privacy settings, and collaborate with schools. 

Did you know that almost half of children in Czechia have received a nude or partially nude photo at some point in their lives? And 1/5 teenagers admit to having sent such a photo themselves… But intimate material doesn't have to remain only in the hands of the person to whom it was originally intended... Sexting is a relatively common part of adolescence. 

Original title: "Stoppt Mobbing!"

What is cyberbullying? How can you defend yourself against it, and what should you do if someone else is affected?

Take the quiz to test your knowledge!