A troll is a person who cyber bullies another person; typically on social media.
Signs that may alert a parent that their child is being trolled are:-
They may stop looking at their phone, make excuses not to go to school and may not want to socialise by going out with friends.
If you think that your child is a victim of a troll, talk to them; explain why someone may become a troll- they may be doing it as a way of getting attention and thinking that they won’t get caught: As with other types of bullying, the troll may well be a coward, or is crying out for attention.
First get your child to block and unfollow the troll on social media, tell her to ignore the messages, as by not getting a response the troll may get bored and stop.
Always report a troll to the police, take screen shots of messages before deleting them.
Chances are your child will also have received some positive feedback to posts , concentrate on them. Explain that her online identity is not her true self and tell her to be aware and think about what she is posting online.
Tips for coping with general bullying here
As always questions and comments which I will reply to are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
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Linked with
Great tips and this is so important to be aware of. Fortunately, my kiddos have not come across trolls yet. But have gotten some weird, spammy texts. I am teaching them how to block these and keeping our social-media / smartphone conversations open. Thank you for the reminder that the troll problem is real and for some insights on what to do about it.
Hopefully your children will never get trolled, thanks for your input, Jed
Ugh. It’s such a minefield. So much to be wary of. Good tips. Esp the screen shots. #ParentPower
Thanks, Lydia
such an important thing to talk to kids about. Don’t wait until its happening and you aren’t aware. #lilbitofeverything
Absolutely, Jeremy, thanks for sharing your thoughts
My children don’t own any phones or have access to social media but I do worry about trolls and bullying when they get them in the next few years. thanks for linking up with #parentpower
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Laura and for having me take part in your linky party
I go one further I am afraid. My kids do not have social media and won’t for a long time. Oddly enough both are fine with that. I personally think under 16’s shouldn’t be on social media. Grown adults can’t handle it, I have never understood why we expect kids to!
#parentpower
Valid points, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and experiences, Karen
Trolling is such a horrible thing. Very hard for children to deal with so these are some great tips and advice. Thanks for sharing #ParentPower
It most certainly is, thanks for your input