You cannot control everything that happens between kids online, but a few habits set up in advance make cyberbullying easier to catch, easier to stop, and far less lonely for your child.
Habits to set up before anything goes wrong
- Set accounts to private, so only approved people see and comment on your child’s posts.
- Learn together how to block and report on each app they use, so it is a known button, not a panic.
- Agree that they keep screenshots if someone is unkind, before deleting or replying, so there is evidence.
- Turn off or limit comments and message requests from people they do not know.
- Agree, clearly, that they can always tell you, and that telling you never means losing the phone as a punishment.
Blocking and reporting is a skill, not a last resort
Every major app has block and report tools built in. Blocking stops someone contacting your child. Reporting flags the behaviour to the platform, which can remove content or accounts. Practise finding these buttons together on an app they actually use, so the steps are familiar before they are ever needed.
Keep the evidence
The instinct is often to delete hurtful messages and move on. A screenshot first is worth it: it captures who said what and when, which helps if you later report it to the platform or the school.
The school has a duty to help
If bullying involves children from your child’s school, the school has a responsibility to act, even when it happens on phones and after hours. You can ask to speak to a teacher or the safeguarding lead, share your screenshots, and ask what they will do. You are not overreacting by raising it.