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Sometimes, it is hard to know what to say to our friend when they are being bullied or hassled on line.

At times it feels pretty intense.

Sometimes your friend won’t know what to say either.  Guys often feel they should be able to handle it and not let it get to them. 

In reality, guys, girls, whether you identify as cis gender or a member of the queer community we shouldn’t have to handle being bullied or endure negative on-line experiences.

When we don’t know what to say, using #Stop can be one way to let our friends know we are being bullied on-line.

When you see your friend using the #Stop emoji, check in on them. 

Ask them, how they are going. 

Your friend may not want to talk about it at first, but if they know you are looking out for them, they may change their minds later and talk to you.

Three things

  1. Sometimes we don’t know what to say and that is ok.  It is ok not to have answers.  Saying something like, “I don’t know what to say, but it sounds pretty crappy” lets your friend know you have heard them.
  2. Asking our friends what they would find helpful can be useful when we don’t know what to do.  Our friends may have already thought of something and want to talk through it with you.
  3. When you have experienced negative on-line behaviour yourself, talk about what you did that helped you deal with it.  Talk about where and who supported you and what was most helpful for you in dealing with it.  This will give your friend some ideas as well.

Dealing with on-line bullying make us feel alone and destroy our confidence.  As well as listening, remind your friends of why you like them as a friend.  They may be funny, quirky, have a different view of things you like, they may just get you.  Remind your friend of these things.

A friend who is there, is a friend who helps #Stop on-line bullying.