—
Child and adolescent family therapist Darby Fox explains how teens view social media. New research indicates that while some find platforms like Snapchat beneficial for friendships, most encounter online harassment or bullying on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. Fox advises parents to implement strict monitoring and maintain open dialogue to protect their children’s mental well-being.
“It was only a joke.” Those five words can stop an important conversation before it begins. Maybe your child or grandchild posted a rude comment in a group chat. Another kid added an embarrassing picture. Soon, classmates were sharing it and piling on with laughing reactions.
To the children taking part, it may feel like ordinary online drama. To the child being targeted, every notification can feel like another person joining the attack. The warning signs of cyberbullying are not always obvious. Some children hide what they are experiencing. Others take part without realizing their behavior has crossed a line.
That is why cybersecurity education needs to go beyond strong passwords, antivirus software and password managers. Those protections remain essential. However, children also need guidance about empathy, privacy and the consequences of what they post. Parents play a central role. Grandparents can also become trusted listeners, especially when a child feels nervous about telling Mom or Dad. Share this article with the adults in your family. Then use it to start a conversation before a child needs help.
New! Free live CyberGuy class: Protect Your Money From Today’s Biggest Threats
Join us Saturday, Aug. 29, at 10 a.m. ET for a free CyberGuy LIVE class covering five simple steps to help defend yourself against AI scams, fraud, identity theft and financial hacks. Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson will explain how to set up bank alerts, strengthen your account logins, protect your phone number, freeze your credit and help secure your retirement savings against unauthorized transfers. No technical experience is needed. You’ll also receive our financial protection checklist, and every registrant will get a link to the class recording afterward.
Reserve your free spot today at CyberGuyLive.com.
JEWISH STUDENT TARGETED WITH ANTISEMITIC ABUSE, LAPTOP CORD ATTACK AT COLORADO SCHOOL, ADL ALLEGES
Cyberbullying can spread through group chats, social media and gaming platforms, leaving children vulnerable to rumors, humiliating images and online harassment. (iStock)
Cyberbullying can hide inside ordinary online behavior
Cyberbullying rarely arrives with a warning label. It may appear as a cruel joke, an altered photo or a rumor inside a private chat. Someone might create a fake account to embarrass a classmate. A group may deliberately exclude one child and then share screenshots of the conversation.
The CDC defines bullying as unwanted aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior repeats or has a strong chance of being repeated. Cyberbullying occurs when children use texting, social media or other technology to carry out that behavior. That definition can become confusing online.
One person may post something only once. However, dozens of other people can save and share it. The child who created the post may call it a single joke, while the person being targeted watches it circulate for days. Children may also believe they are only watching. Yet forwarding a humiliating image or adding a laughing reaction can make the attack feel much larger. Adults need to help children connect an online action with the real person receiving it.
What the latest cyberbullying data tells families
The latest available research shows that online harassment remains part of daily life for many young people. The CDC reports that more than one in six U.S. high school students experienced electronic bullying during the previous year. That includes bullying through texting and social media. Female students reported it more often than male students.
A World Health Organization study involving 44 countries and regions found that 15% of adolescents had experienced cyberbullying. Meanwhile, 12% admitted cyberbullying someone else. Both figures had increased compared with the organization’s earlier research. A 2026 Pew Research Center study offers a closer look at the social platforms teenagers use. Roughly three-quarters of teen TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat users said harassment and bullying were problems on those platforms for people their age.
Nearly three in 10 teen Snapchat users said they had personally experienced at least one form of harassment covered by the survey. Those behaviors included offensive name-calling, rumor spreading or physical threats. The figure was about one in five among teen Instagram and TikTok users. These numbers do not mean every disagreement counts as bullying. Still, families should not wait for an online situation to become severe before discussing it.
Your child may not realize they joined the bullying
Ask a child whether they have bullied anyone and the answer will probably be no. Ask whether they have forwarded an embarrassing screenshot and you may hear a different response.
Children often picture a bully as one openly cruel person who targets someone weaker. Online harassment can look far less organized. A teenager may add an emoji without thinking. Someone else may share the post because everyone at school has already seen it. Another child may remain silent because speaking up could make them the next target.
Each action can increase the pressure on the person being humiliated. Parents and grandparents should avoid starting this conversation with an accusation. Instead, use an example your child can understand.
Ask how the person in the picture might feel. Find out whether they gave permission for the post. You could also ask what your child would want a friend to do if someone shared the same content about them. These questions help children examine their decisions without immediately feeling attacked.
Why telling a child to go offline may not solve it
I recently spoke with a high school senior and her mother, who works in education. The student explained that bullying often looks very different from the scenes adults remember from movies. Much of it happens in private chats, anonymous apps and social media accounts that hide the person posting.
Rumors can spread across a school before the person being discussed knows they exist. AI tools can also produce altered photos, fake audio and convincing videos of a classmate. When I asked whether leaving social media could provide some relief, the student explained that her phone connected her with friends and much of her school life. That response stayed with me.
Adults often see putting down a phone as a break. A teenager may see it as disappearing from their social circle. Leaving an app can also mean missing plans or school updates while everyone else continues discussing the situation.
Pew Research Center found that 74% of teens said social media helped them feel connected to what was happening in their friends’ lives. At the same time, 39% said social media made them feel overwhelmed by drama. Nearly one-third said it sometimes left them feeling excluded. “Delete the app” should not be the only advice a child hears.
Parents may feel ready to talk before children feel ready to answer
Adults often assume their children know they can come to them. Children may feel differently. A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 80% of parents felt highly comfortable discussing their teenager’s mental health. Only 52% of teens felt equally comfortable having that conversation with a parent. That gap should get every parent’s attention.
A parent may believe the door is wide open. Meanwhile, the child may worry about losing a phone or being blamed for what happened. The child may also fear that an adult will immediately call the school and make the situation more public.
Grandparents can sometimes help bridge that distance. A teenager may reveal something during a car ride or while visiting for the weekend. The conversation may begin casually instead of during a serious family meeting. Listen closely when a child suddenly asks what you would do in a “hypothetical” situation. They may be testing whether it feels safe to tell you more.
COULD THE 7-ELEVEN BREACH AFFECT YOU?
Children may contribute to cyberbullying without realizing it by forwarding embarrassing screenshots, sharing harmful posts or reacting to humiliating content. (iStock)
AI deepfakes are raising the stakes for children
Generative AI has made a painful form of online abuse much easier to create. A classmate can take an ordinary social media photo and use an AI tool to create a fake nude image. Someone can also clone a voice, produce a false video or build a convincing impersonation account. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received more than 400,000 CyberTipline reports with a generative AI connection during 2025.
NCMEC also identified more than 275 direct victims of AI-generated child sexual abuse material during 2024 and 2025. In many cases, the person responsible had direct access to the child. Those reports involve child exploitation rather than cyberbully
