Putting yourself out there on the internet or *IRL takes a lot of courage. Having a blog opens you up for all kinds of criticism, haterade, or anonymous comments. My world, the one I’ve created online, is pretty positive, but I’ve had my share of cyberbullying.

It’s important to fight back against trolls, for example you could use an instagram story viewer app to save any abusive posts so that you can use them as evidence against them. It’s also important to learn how you can avoid being exposed to this kind of harassment and Telus has an award winning Canadian program about how to protect you and your family online. They offer online info and offline info like in-person training sessions for business customers and their fams.

Thanks for this @TELUS! #TelusWise pic.twitter.com/uIpjxQArfZ

— CASiE STEWART (@casiestewart) August 20, 2015

Telus is one of my longest standing relationships and this program is one of the reasons I love them. Not to mention the owl for this campaign. I like owls.

I’ve had more than one stalker over the years and had to contact the police several times about something internet related. I don’t share this stuff often because it’s hard to talk about. There’s also SO MUCH sad/bad news out there I want this to be a happy place for you when you’re having a bad day or want a cheer up.

The things about bullying is it can stay with you forever. It’s hard to forget the way they made you feel.

A couple of years ago a ‘friend’ had been commenting mean things under an alias for months. It was really hurtful, the things she said were spiteful, stuff only someone who knew me would say to be mean. I did some investigating and finally tracked the IP to her parent’s house and confronted her. She admitted she was jealous and was sorry.

Someone may apologize but the hurt stays. I was bullied heaps in school. In grade 9, a girl who failed and was in my grade spread rumors about me to the whole school starting with her grade 12 sister and her friends.

I distinctly remember a few girls a year older than me singing ‘All By Myself’ as I walked back from lunch break. I used to go home to my dad’s place across the street and watch Young & the Restless at lunch across the street, it was great! Except the walking back to school part… These girls sat in the school parking lot, smoking, gossiping, and they’d make fun of me, yelling mean things almost every single day. They also egged my house a couple of times. I grew up in Cambridge, Ontario, it was fairly common in small town. Strangely enough, a few of them are friends with me on Facebook and I bet they probably don’t even know how it made me feel, or remember.

My sister and I wrote down all the stories of girls, and a few boys being mean to us, determined to write a book. Until I get that book written, I have a blog.

A new national study has found youth are motivated to intervene when they witness cyberbullying, but would be more likely to do so with better support from adults. TELUS WISE, in partnership with PREVNet and MediaSmarts, conducted the research to understand the attitudes and experiences of youth who witness cyberbullying and the factors that influence whether or not they intervene.

I imagine if there was social media when I was in school and how hard it must be for kids now. On the bright side, bullying gets a lot more attention and is now punished by law. Be nice people! I’ve listed a few statistics below in relation to cyberbullying, but if you want to find out more, checking out sites like broadbandsearchcould show you the current impact of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can be emotionally devastating to those who find themselves being the target, particularly those who are targeted by real-world peers. Cyberbullying brings bullying into the home, and the level of anonymity and mob mentality online means that those who are susceptible to bullying can are easily targeted. Most young adults and teenagers have mobile phones and access to social media. They are also likely not to use the full, privacy settings options available to them. If you would like to find out more facts about cyberbullying, a search online can reveal studies on the topic

Key insights from the study that stood out to me include:

• – 42 per cent of youth said they have been cyberbullied while 60 per cent said they had witnessed others being cyberbullied
• – 71 per cent of those who saw cyberbullying did something to intervene at least once
• – 90 per cent of youth said they would intervene if their family member were the target of cyberbullying while 37 per cent would intervene for someone they do not know personally
• – Youth’s top-rated intervention strategies involved talking to an adult

If you’re ever feeling bullied or like you wanna each out to my my email is casie @casie stewart.com. If you wanna chat with someone else call here. For info on how to talk to your kids about bullying or resources for yourself, visit wise.telus.com.

* IRL = In Real Life 🙂