10 Types of Cyberbullying Every Parent and Teacher Should Recognise

Children rarely report cyberbullying, because they fear the adult response will be to take the phone away. Recognising the pattern yourself matters more than waiting to be told.

The ten patterns

• Harassment, repeated, deliberate abusive messages.
• Exclusion, being deliberately locked out of group chats and games.
• Outing, sharing private messages, photos or secrets publicly.
• Impersonation, creating fake accounts in a child's name.
• Trickery, earning trust to extract something private, then publishing it.
• Cyberstalking, persistent monitoring, threats and tracking.
• Denigration, spreading rumours, edited images or fake screenshots.
• Flaming, public pile-ons in comments and group chats.
• Dissing, sharing damaging content to wreck a reputation or friendship.
• Trolling, provoking a reaction for an audience.

Warning signs

• Sudden withdrawal from devices, or refusal to be parted from them.
• Distress after being online; hiding screens when you approach.
• Falling grades, dropped friendships, changed sleep or appetite.
• New accounts, or an account deleted with no explanation.

How to respond

• Listen first. Do not confiscate the device, that punishes the victim.
• Screenshot everything with dates and usernames before it disappears.
• Block and report inside the platform; every major app has a route.
• Involve the school's dean or safeguarding lead in writing.
• Escalate to the TTPS Cybercrime Unit where threats, sexual content or extortion are involved.