Internet Safety for Kids: Dealing with "Haters"

​​Just like the real world, the virtual one has its up- and down-sides. All individuals with online connectivity, including kids, experience both ends of the spectrum. Have you ever wondered how to help your children deal with online haters and make the most of their time online?

Who Are Haters?

Haters are people posting negative comments on social media channels. These comments may be meant as a joke or be explicitly oriented towards causing damage. Regardless of the intention, this kind of behavior may hurt your kid and needs to be addressed. 

Privacy Settings

As soon as a kid starts posting content online, they are exposed to the potential activity of haters. Particularly so if a profile is open to the public. To protect your kids from the online haters, limit the number of networks they are on, encourage them to keep their profiles in “private” mode, and to only interact with people they personally know. 

Blocking and Banning

If your kid knows the sender of a disrespectful comment, it’s best to address the issue and speak up about it. If the post comes from someone your kid doesn't know, it should be deleted and the anonymous hater should be blocked. 

Safety Measures

Don't give your kids a smartphone or unsupervised access to the internet until you are sure they can use it responsibly. Check if their profiles are set to “private” and react anytime you know they experience disrespectful behavior.

Boost Confidence

Explain to your kids that they should care about the opinion of their loved ones instead of wasting time on unknown internet users. Tell them, that the haters' behavior is a symptom of their own problems, and criticizing others anonymously gives them the feeling of power and compensation.

You may try some confidence-building activities, such as asking your kids to list the qualities and talents that make them unique, or discussing what's special about their relationships with friends.

If your kids are having a hard time dealing with online haters, encourage them to speak to someone a bit older who has moved past a similar experience. If the situation gets nasty, don’t hesitate to seek support from a counselor.