How do you help your students deal with cyberbullies or threatening posts on Facebook? Tell them about this new reporting tool the social network is making available this week.

It’s specifically for teens starting at age 13, the minimum age you need to be to create a Facebook account.

If a teen finds an upsetting or threatening post or image, he or she can report this by clicking a button that says “This post is a problem.” Then Facebook will ask a series of questions to find out why the post is problematic and how it makes the person feel.

Afterward a list of suggested actions appear to find out what the teen would like done. For example, if the teen is annoyed by the post, he or she can choose to send a pre-written message to the person who created it. There are also links to suicide hotlines and professionals to aid teens who are feeling suicidal because of what they see.

Similar tools are available for adults. They are adding buttons that allow users to communicate to each other requesting that unflattering or embarrassing photos be taken down.


Do you think this will help students deal with cyberbullying? Let us know.