"National Bullying Prevention Month," isn't until October, but social media sites are already gearing up for the conversation.
Facebook released a social media safety manual Wednesday to help parents, children, and educators better understand and safely utilize the platform. The manual, officially titled the "Facebook for Educators and Community Leaders Guide," joins a handful of similar guides previously released by the company to help combat bullying and safety issues online.
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Meanwhile, Google+ is teaming up with PopSugar, a media network that operates a number of female-focused websites, for three to four different Google Hangout sessions throughout October. The Hangouts will be hosted by Google+ and PopSugar Moms, and will address issues like cyberbullying, suicide prevention, and a "Parent-Teacher Conference" session about how educational institutions can better support safe student activity over social media channels.
The Hangout sessions are tentatively scheduled to begin Oct. 10, and will occur once per week ending on Halloween, although the dates are not yet finalized, says a spokesperson.
Twitter, for its part, has a "Safety tips for parents" page on its Help Center.
To avid Facebook users, the newly-released guide may not offer much insight, as much of it covers basic Facebook safety. But for the target audience — parents and educators who may not be as familiar with Facebook's ins and outs — the manual provides some general guidance on how to safely share information. For example, the document explains how users can report abuse or harassment on the site. (All forms of bullying and harassment are, of course, a violation of the Facebook Community Standards.)
Facebook also recruited Rosalind Wiseman, a New York Times best-selling author, whose book "Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World" inspired the movie Mean Girls. Wiseman outlined some tips for how parents can monitor their teen's Facebook use without being overbearing.
Included in her list of tips was a reminder to give kids space, warn them about the consequences that can come with posting online and, ultimately, understand that teens who grow up with social media often make it a major part of their lives. "Sometimes adults think about the difference between online life and offline life, but for teens, it’s just life ," she writes. "Just as teens are playing on the soccer field or interacting with other kids at school, they will be interacting online too."
Cyberbullying is a major issue among social media users, particularly teenagers. A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics in May found that one in six teens had been the victim of cyberbullying over the previous 12 months.
Earlier this month, a 12-year-old Florida girl jumped to her death after months of cyberbullying over social sites and text messages. In April, 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons of Canada died after sustaining injuries from a failed suicide attempt. Parsons tried to take her own life after she was allegedly sexually assaulted and images of the assault circulated the Internet, including social media sites.
Are social media sites doing enough to combat cyberbullying? Tell us in the comments below.
Image: Marcel Hauri/Flickr