Parents ‘should get to grips with social media to help stop bullying’

ADULTS should get to grips with social media and help their children open up about online bullying, campaigners have said.

Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos urged parents to learn how to navigate Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and guide children “by the hand” until they are old enough to manage alone.

It comes as research by safety group Internet Matters found parents are more worried about cyber bullying than children being bullied face-toface.

One in five parents (18 per cent) said their child had received “cruel comments” online, the survey of 2,000 adults with children aged between nine and 16 found.

Almost two thirds (65 per cent) were concerned about their child being targeted on social media sites, while 46 per ent were worried about face-toface bullying.

Most parents (68 per cent) said bullying over body image was their top concern, with 17.4 per cent of boys and 15.7 per cent of girls being teased about the way they look.

Dr Papadopoulos, an ambassador for the Internet Matters campaign, said: “This idea that, ‘I don’t get Instagram’ or ‘I don’t get Snapchat’... If your kid is on it, get it. Understand it.

“Understand the way that they might engage on it and through that, discuss with them what the potential issues may be.”