PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten South Leo Club joins the Lions International Organization as it observes this week as Worldwide Week of Service for Youth.
During the first cabinet meeting, being held in Barbados from August 10th to 13th, comprised by the various English speaking Lions Clubs of the Caribbean, cyber bullying, and cyber crimes were the main topic at the Leo Forum.
The Sint Maarten South Leo Club wants to bring awareness to the reality and the effects of cyber-bullying and cyber crimes here in Sint Maarten by sharing useful tips that among others came out of that forum.
Cyber-bullying and cybercrimes have had a significant increase worldwide as technology and social media have become much more integrated into our everyday life.
We feel it important to note, that not every act of bullying is intentional. So be considerate of others when you are posting on social media or sending messages.
Before posting or sending, ask yourself the following questions:
· Is this hurtful?
· Can it be interpreted as hurtful?
· How would I feel if I was the subject of this post?
The simplest way to make sure you're not bullying someone else is by treating others the way you want to be treated.
Try to avoid posting pictures or videos of people without their permission.
When someone contacts you and asks you to remove a picture or video of them, remove it.
If you were asking someone to remove a picture of you, you would want them to remove it.
Be careful about what you share and post on social media. If you socialize with people who don’t really care about you or your reputation, realize that they might take compromising pictures or videos of you and post them to social media. Consider regularly searching yourself on the internet just to see what’s out there about you. Most websites do have a way to opt out and have that picture or information removed.
Stay safe online. Resist accepting every friend or follower request you receive.
Accepting requests from strangers, increases your risk for victimization. Consider going through your friend lists, remove or unfollow people that you don’t know.
If you do find yourself being bullied, don’t retaliate as that escalates the situation.
Try to express that the bully’s actions are not funny but hurtful.
Most importantly, speak out, tell someone about it. Talk to your friends about being bullied.
Block the access to cyber-bullies, on social media and or on your cellphone. If their negative messages can’t get to you it could deter the bully from continuing.
Learn how to block numbers that you don’t know or that send you negative messages. Report hurtful posts on social media as abusive.
If you see someone being bullied, be an up-stander, not a bystander. Be someone who stands up for what is right, when you see something happening that is wrong.
The St. Maarten South Leo Club wishes all our youth a wonderful youth day.