Thinkabara

🛡️ Internet Safety for Kids · Lesson 5 of 7

Cyberbullying and group chats

Google Classroom

What to do when someone hurts you or a friend online.

What is cyberbullying?

Mean messages, embarrassing photos, fake accounts, spreading rumors, or deliberately leaving someone out of a group chat — again and again. It hurts as much as bullying in person, and sometimes more, because it follows you home.

If it happens to you

  1. Don’t answer back while you’re angry
  2. Take screenshots — they are proof
  3. Block the person and report them in the app
  4. Tell a parent or a teacher
  5. Remember: it says something about them, not about you

Be an upstander

When someone is picked on in a group chat, most kids stay quiet. An upstander does something: doesn’t like or forward the mean message, sends a kind private message to the kid being hurt (“that wasn’t OK, are you alright?”), and tells an adult.

Think before you send

T — True?Is it true?
H — Helpful?Does it help?
I — Inspiring?Does it make things better?
N — Necessary?Does it need to be said?
K — Kind?Is it kind?

Tip

💡 If you or a friend feel hopeless, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) — any time, free.

✏️ Practice: your turn

  1. Practice taking a screenshot on your phone or tablet
  2. Find the “block” and “report” buttons in an app you use
  3. Write a kind message you could send to someone who was left out
  4. Put the THINK poster on the fridge

🧠 Quick quiz

Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.

1. What should you do first when someone is mean to you online?
2. What is an upstander?
3. What does the K in THINK stand for?
4. Why take screenshots of bullying?

0 of 4 correct

All lessons in Internet Safety for Kids

  1. 🔑 1. A strong passwordHow to make a password that is hard to guess, and who may know it
  2. 🙊 2. What not to sharePersonal details, photos and location
  3. 🎣 3. Scams and suspicious linksFake prizes, urgent messages and strange links
  4. 👤 4. Strangers onlineWho is behind the screen, strange requests and meeting up
  5. 🫂 5. Cyberbullying and group chatsWhat to do when someone hurts you or a friend online
  6. 🎮 6. Games, purchases and screen timeIn-game purchases, loot boxes and when to stop
  7. 🗣️ 7. Telling a trusted adultWhy to tell, who to tell, and what to say