When it comes to social media, it’s no big secret that cyberbullying is prevalent, particularly among teens. It’s too easy for teens to bully and say whatever they want to each other from behind the safety of their usernames and devices. In fact, approximately 34% of the students surveyed by the Cyberbullying Research Center have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetimes.

However, if your teen is the victim of cyberbullying on social media, there’s a better way to deal with it than by confronting the other teens and making the situation worse. 

On November 7th of this year, STOMP Out Bullying celebrated our second successful Block It Out Day where we encouraged teens (and parents) to block anyone from their social media who is harassing, bullying, and bringing hate and negativity onto their page, messages, or email. This year we reached almost 3 million people! This tells us that people are definitely ready for the hate and discrimination to stop. 

So, How Does Block It Out Day Work?

On Block It Out Day, STOMP Out Bullying encourages everyone who is being bullied, trolled and mistreated online to not only block out their bully on social media, but to go a step further and encourage and empower their friends to block their own bullies as well. Teens can spread the word by using the hashtag #BlockItOutDay and by calling, texting, and emailing their friends to let them know the best way for dealing with their cyberbullies.

When it comes to cyberbullying on social media, when the bully who is harassing, trolling, and mistreating your teen continues to have access to that social media account, they continue to have the power. While it might seem scary for your teens to block these people, it’s an important way for them to take back the power and take back control of their personal cyberspace.

When it comes down to it, “out of sight, out of mind” is an extremely effective way for your teens to deal with cyberbullies and block negativity from their digital devices and online lives.

On Block It Out Day, we ask teens around the world from every corner of the web to block out their bullies, erase the negative messages, and create a positive, safe digital space for themselves. 

We also ask teens to encourage and empower their friends to do the same. In doing so, we can create a chain reaction that will erase cruelty, homophobia, LGBTQ+ discrimination, racism and online hatred.

We control what we take in cyberspace, and we can and should refuse to take in negative messages of hate and discrimination. We can and will erase negative messages. We can and will take that power away from our bullies.
 

To learn more about Block It Out Day, click for information.

We don’t have to live in a digital world where hate wins. Block It Out Day is not about getting likes vs. dislikes. It’s a day about spreading positivity and making social media a safe place for everyone to be.

If you or your teen aren’t sure about how to block someone on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat) click to view our guide on how to do so. We created this resource to help everyone who wants to participate in Block It Out Day and create a more loving, positive cyber-environment.

Are you ready to say goodbye to cyberbullying on social media? Mark your calendars for next year’s Block It Out Day on November 14, 2019! Together, we can end the hate and make social media a safer place to be!

Resources: 

https://cyberbullying.org/2016-cyberbullying-data