How To Stop Online Bullying; Upcoming Avon Seminar Helps Parents

AVON, OH — A new seminar wants to help keep kids safe in the age of online bullying and other digital threats. The free session will equip parents with tools and tips to prevent youth suicide and other threats to their children or family.

The Lorain County Board of Health is hosting the seminar. The event will be held April 21 at Christian Heritage Church, 36465 Chester Rd., in Avon. The session runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Experts from the Board of Health and the Jason Foundation, a youth suicide prevention group, will speak at the event. Besides dealing with bullying and other self-esteem threats, the event will also discuss other dangers like the exchanging of sexual content online, online identity theft and more.

Patch has been covering the spread of online bullying and what it means for today's youth.

One in three kids has been bullied at school, according to a 2014 report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Education. Tens of thousands of kids stay home every day to avoid their bullies.

Cyberbullying — that's when mean kids target victims online — is less common but more difficult to confront, according to the two federal agencies. Relentless online bullying often occurs at night, when victims already feel isolated. And many of them are not yet equipped to cope, social worker Caroline Fenkel said. It has to do with neuropsychology: The frontal lobes of adolescent and teen brains — where reasoning and emotions are managed — aren't fully developed.

YOUR TURN

Over the coming year, Patch will look at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child's unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.

Do you have a story to tell? Are you concerned about how your local schools handle bullies and their victims?

Email us at bullies@patch.com and share your views in the comments.

Photo from Shutterstock