Students on the school online newspaper for World Journalism Preparatory and their advisor shared their thoughts on this matter with SchoolBook. The Blazer can be found here: http://wjpsblazer.wordpress.com.

Starr Sackstein, ELA Teacher and newspaper advisor provided the following ideas:
- Teach students how to effectively privacy settings to only allow trusted people to post on their site.
- Know the people you friend and be selective, more isn't always better.
- Be vigilant about posts
- Don't respond to inflammatory comments. Report them.
- Don't post status updates that cause negative feedback.
- Don't look for fights with what you post. Take 24 hours to consider posting - something. Never post in anger or frustration looking to elicit a response from another person or group of people.

Stephanie Yaipen, junior, "A way to prevent bullying would probably be if we have an in-school program so people in the school can get to know each other."

Peggy Wu, junior, "-disregard any unknown/ anonymous users that poses any threat, Set personal account to private- only viewable by friends / family that you know in "real life", and do not post any info such as phone number, address."

Oliver Lataste, junior, "Avoid using sites that allow anonymous bullying such as ask.fm or formspring.
Twitter should be used for following people, not telling people about every detail of your life.
With Facebook, you must block and ignore people who are showing signs of bullying. (not constructive criticism, by the way) It's often better to talk with people face to face rather than online, unless it's someone you trust.
Use common sense on facebook, don't humiliate yourself in any way and be smart with what you post. Don't get into a facebook fight for everyone to see. Calm yourself when you're online. Often people get too worked up and gives the reaction that the bullying demands. Never satisfy the person by giving your anger.
In more complex situations, you should simply not use Facebook at all or delete people you feel are bothering you too much."

Leslie Granados, junior: "I don't think there is any way for teens to protect themselves from social media like Facebook, tumblr or twitter because bullying can be for the smallest things that we might not even know we do. During this time especially we see it goes on a lot whether it be picking on a kid for what he is wearing or what he/she does after school. Bullying can also happen at anytime. If someone is getting bullied you should speak up and say something because it can really hurt some people. Overall bullying cannot be protected just having a voice and good group of people who care about you will help."

George Angelidis, junior: "I personally think that teens get caught up in the moment and try to fight back which most of the time does not work out their favor and lead to even more bullying and harassment."

Yo Hwan Cha, junior: "I think teens can protect themselves from shaming and bullying on social media in many ways. In sites like Facebook, you can report or flag a comment as abuse, so that is one way. Another way is blocking the other person from their own social media account. Another way can be just totally ignoring that person and talking to a parent or other responsible adults."

Thank you for your comments guys! We really appreciate it!

This is not the “normal” type of advice you would expect to receive from a Techie and Internet Safety Expert...but I am speaking from my role as a mommy. We can boycott all Social Media Platforms, throw all the computers out of the window, lobby on Capitol Hill, but none of that works better than good old fashion communication.

Self-love and acceptance for young girls start from within, there is no social networking site in the world that can teach them about their self-worth. Another powerful way to show a young daughter she is loved is to get in her business, check her online and offline interactions.
Our young girls are watching us, they are listening to us, they mimic us, and they are taking their cues from us. When they hear us putting ourselves down, they are not analyzing us for self-esteem issues, they start wondering if they are good enough, and often times seek the answers and validation through their online behavior.

My advice to teens is to NEVER share a nude photo with anyone. I am not blaming the girl if their photo is exposed, however I am encouraging them to make the decision to protect themselves.

There are definitely double standards for boys and girls, and I believe that the change also comes through communication and accountability. When I talk about online safety I don't just offer "random" tips, but I share real life stories which makes the issue real. Sharing of stories and consequences with the male population will at least bring about awareness. Let the conversations begin!

Feel free to read my current blog where I talk about slut-shaming and the awesome work by Radio Rookies! http://bit.ly/13hE6Kg

Boys must be taught self-love and acceptance, also, or this will never change. Show your son he is loved by getting into his business and teaching him that every time he engages in sexual activity with someone he doesn't care about, he hurts himself as well as the other party.