Before you can understand how best to protect your child online, you need to know what threats they face. If your only metric is the media, you might be forgiven for thinking the internet is a paedophile paradise, with predatory behaviour the norm.

However, Dave Miles, director at the Family Online Safety Institute reminds us that while predation is perceived as the most challenging threat, “the reality is that cyber-bullying is probably a larger problem”.

Children used to be targeted outside school via email and chat; now social-networking sites have become the most popular route to online bullying.

via PC Pro

Last night teaching officials said the powerful lessons were already paying dividends.

Recorded incidents of cyberbullying among pupils have tumbled by 75% when comparing recorded figures this month, as compared with December last year.

The school’s ICT director, Nigel Price, and head of the lower school, Barbara Jones, have run the classes after being trained by The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

The lessons look at the impact cyberbullying – the use of technology to bully – can have on others.

via Liverpool Daily Post

As reported, a number of pupils from Caistor Yarborough School have been suspended or expelled after comments were made on the social networking site Facebook.

Lincolnshire Police’s Inspector Rod Brant, who heads up policing across Market Rasen and Caistor, said police have visited the pupils believed to be involved.

Although they will not be pursuing prosecutions at this stage, he said they would not rule this out if incidents persisted.

He said: “The headmaster (Jeremy Newnham) was happy for the Facebook group to be closed down and suitable advice given to those involved.

via This is Grimsby

His comments came after Bebo introduced a “Ceop report” button for users to log abuse. Clicking on the tool, which appears automatically under users’ profile pictures, opens a window inviting victims to log “violations of Bebo’s terms of service” – including bullying, hate speech and sexually explicit content.

The Ceop button was added across Bebo’s website yesterday. As well as functioning as a bullying deterrent, the tool can be used to report inappropriate behaviour toward a child directly to specially trained Ceop officers.

Facebook and MySpace are yet to install the Ceop tool, and Gamble criticised such sites for not taking up the free service.

via The Guardian

Over the next 12 months the Year 9 pupils at Trinity Catholic College, in Acklam, will be on hand to help Year 7 pupils who feel vulnerable to bullying.

They have been given training sessions on mediation and dealing with cyber bullying.

The peer mentors are already providing support to younger pupils who are worried about bullying, or mentees as they are known.

Gazettelive.co.uk (via bullying.co.uk)

By ensuring bullying incidents are picked up and resolved earlier, the new duty will help schools tackle bullying more effectively. It also means that head teachers can reassure parents and keep them well informed about everything the school is doing in dealing with bullying incidents.

The new duty, to be consulted on over the next 12 weeks, will mean that schools will have to record and report serious or recurring incidents of bullying to their local authority. This will include incidents of bullying and racism between pupils, and abuse or bullying of school staff. The government is clear that schools must take seriously any complaints made by their staff of abuse or bullying by pupils.

via DCSF.gov.uk