Cyberbullying Advice for Parents: What to Do in the First 24 Hours
Cyberbullying can enter family life very suddenly. A child may become upset after receiving a message, withdraw from a friendship group or reveal that something embarrassing has been shared about them.
Parents often feel pressure to act immediately—and to fix everything at once. But your first response does not need to be perfect. It needs to help your child feel safe enough to keep talking. We wanted to create some cyberbullying advice for parents to help them navigate this modern parenting challenge.
The most useful starting point is simple:
Stay calm, listen carefully and agree the next step together.
Cyberbullying Advice for Parents: What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is bullying or harmful behaviour carried out through digital services such as messaging apps, online games, group chats, social media or shared documents.
It can include:
Repeated unkind, humiliating or threatening messages
Deliberately excluding a child from online groups
Sharing rumours, photographs or private information
Creating fake accounts or impersonating someone
Encouraging other people to target a child
Recording and distributing an upsetting incident
Threatening to share private or sexual images
Harassment connected to race, religion, disability, sex, sexuality or another protected characteristic
Online incidents can feel particularly difficult because they may follow a child home, reach a large audience and be copied or shared quickly. Even one post can cause serious harm if it is threatening, humiliating or widely distributed.
What are the warning signs of cyberbullying?
There is no single sign that proves a child is being bullied online. Look instead for a noticeable change or a combination of changes.
A child may:
Become upset, angry or anxious after using a device
Hide the screen when somebody approaches
Stop using an app, game or device they previously enjoyed
Check messages much more—or much less—than usual
Have difficulty sleeping or complain of headaches or stomach aches
Become withdrawn or lose confidence
Avoid school, clubs or particular friends
Experience an unexplained change in friendships
Become unusually worried about what other people are saying about them
These signs can have many possible causes. Treat them as an invitation to check in, not as proof.
Try a low-pressure opening such as:
“You seemed upset after looking at your phone. Would you like to tell me what happened?”
Talking while walking, driving or making a drink can sometimes feel easier than sitting down for a formal conversation.
What should I say if my child tells me?
A child may worry that telling an adult will make the situation worse. They may fear losing their phone, being excluded further or having adults contact other families before they are ready.
Your first words matter.
Try:
“I’m glad you told me.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“You’re not in trouble.”
“I’ll listen before we decide what to do.”
“We’ll work out the next step together.”
Avoid asking why they did not tell you sooner. Children may stay silent because they feel embarrassed, frightened or responsible for what happened.
Do not promise complete secrecy. Instead, explain that you will only involve people who can help keep them safe, and that you will tell your child what you plan to do whenever possible.
What to do in the first 24 hours
1. Check immediate safety
Find out whether your child is physically safe and whether the incident involves:
A credible threat
Plans to meet someone
Blackmail or demands for money
Sexual messages or images
Grooming or coercion
Serious emotional distress
Thoughts of self-harm or suicide
If somebody’s life is at risk, your child has seriously harmed themselves, or you cannot keep them safe, call 999 or go to A&E. For urgent mental-health help that is not an emergency, contact NHS 111 and select the mental-health option. Current NHS guidance explains the available urgent and emergency routes.
2. Let your child show you what happened
Ask rather than grab the device.
You might say:
“Can you show me the message so we can decide what to do?”
Listen for the facts, but do not turn the conversation into an interrogation. You do not need every detail before offering reassurance and making the situation safer.
3. Preserve evidence safely
Before blocking an account or deleting ordinary messages, save enough information to show what happened.
Record:
The date and time
The platform, app, game or group
The account name or username
The exact words or behaviour
Relevant screenshots of ordinary messages
Web addresses or URLs
Report or reference numbers
The impact on your child
Who witnessed the incident
Keep the original messages where it is safe to do so. GOV.UK advises keeping records of cyberbullying messages, including relevant dates and times, when making a report. See the government’s guidance on reporting bullying.
Important: if the incident involves a nude or sexual image of anybody under 18, do not download, copy, print or forward the image to collect evidence. Record the account name, URL and surrounding non-image details instead.
Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation provide Report Remove to help children under 18 report nude or sexual images of themselves that have been shared online. Read how Report Remove works.
4. Reduce further contact
Once safe evidence has been preserved:
Mute or block the account
Use the platform’s reporting tools
Review privacy settings
Change passwords if an account may have been accessed
Turn on two-step verification
Check whether location sharing is enabled
Agree how your child will handle any new contact
Do not reply in anger or contact another child or family impulsively. This can escalate the incident and make a school investigation more difficult.
Need a clear plan to follow? Download Liaura’s free When Online Bullying Happens: A Calm Guide for Parents, including a first-24-hours guide, printable incident log, reporting routes and family action plan.
Should I take away my child’s phone?
Not automatically.
Removing all digital access can feel like a punishment, even when a parent is trying to protect their child. It may also separate them from supportive friends or make them less willing to disclose future problems.
The NSPCC advises that completely removing a child’s internet access is unlikely to solve the underlying problem and recommends open conversations and practical safety measures instead. Read the NSPCC’s advice for helping a child who is being bullied.
Choose changes that match the actual risk. These might include:
Muting one group chat
Temporarily blocking a particular account
Using the device in a shared space
Pausing one app while a report is investigated
Reviewing privacy settings together
Agreeing a short check-in the following day
Protecting sleep by charging devices outside the bedroom
Explain what is changing, why it is changing and when you will review it. Restore normal access as the risk reduces.
When should I contact the school?
Contact the school when pupils are involved or when the incident is affecting your child’s learning, attendance, friendships or sense of safety at school.
Send a short, factual account including:
What happened
When and where it happened
Who was involved
The impact on your child
What evidence has been preserved
Whether the content has been reported to a platform
Any immediate safety concerns
Ask for:
A named contact
The school’s anti-bullying or behaviour policy
Immediate safety measures
A record of the actions it will take
A date for reviewing progress
GOV.UK recommends reporting bullying to the school first in most cases, including online incidents involving school relationships. It also explains that some conduct—including violence, theft, repeated harassment, threats and hate crime—may be criminal. See the government’s guidance on bullying and the law.
Keep communication factual. Avoid circulating screenshots more widely than necessary, and never email or attach sexual images of a child.
When should cyberbullying be reported to the police or CEOP?
Call 999 when there is an immediate danger to life or somebody cannot be kept safe.
Use the police’s non-emergency route, normally 101 or online reporting, when the behaviour may involve a crime, such as:
Credible threats
Repeated harassment or intimidation
Violence or assault
Theft
Hate crime
Stalking
Blackmail
Contact CEOP when the concern involves online sexual abuse, grooming, sexual coercion, threats involving sexual images or pressure to meet.
CEOP does not deal with ordinary bullying, fake accounts or account hacking. Its reporting service is intended for concerns about online child sexual abuse or grooming. Check whether a CEOP report is appropriate.
A child under 19 can also contact Childline on 0800 1111 or use its online support. Calls are free and do not appear on the phone bill. Visit Childline.
Helping your child recover
Removing a post or stopping the messages may not immediately remove their impact.
Check in gently over the following days and weeks. Look at:
Sleep and appetite
School attendance
Concentration
Friendships
Confidence
Anxiety around devices
Whether new accounts are making contact
Whether the incident is being discussed offline
Keep routines steady where possible. Notice strengths and moments of recovery without expecting your child to “move on” immediately.
If distress is persistent or affecting everyday life, speak to your GP, school nurse, teacher or another appropriate professional. Parents and carers can speak to these professionals on a child’s behalf to explore local mental-health support. The NHS explains how children and young people can access support.
Healthy digital habits that can reduce future harm
No setting can prevent every harmful interaction, but small family habits can make disclosure and recovery easier.
Try to:
Talk regularly about online life before a problem occurs
Tell your child they can ask for help even if they broke a rule
Review who can contact, tag or add them
Use strong, unique passwords and two-step verification
Ask permission before sharing another person’s image
Encourage children not to like, forward or join harmful conversations
Practise saving evidence, stepping away and telling a trusted adult
Agree device routines that support sleep
Keep online-safety conversations curious rather than punitive
Liaura is designed to support safer, kinder digital habits with trusted adults close by. Technology alone cannot replace conversation, but a calm environment can make it easier for children to ask for help.
A calm response is a powerful response
Discovering that your child has been bullied online can feel frightening. You do not have to solve every part of the problem in one conversation.
Start with safety. Preserve evidence carefully. Report through the appropriate routes. Keep your child informed and involved wherever possible.
Most importantly, make sure they hear this clearly:
They are not in trouble, they are not alone and asking for help was the right thing to do.
Keep the steps somewhere easy to find. Download Liaura’s free parent cyberbullying guide for a printable incident log, first-24-hours checklist, family action plan and trusted UK support routes.
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Frequently asked questions
What should I do first if my child is being cyberbullied?
Stay calm, thank them for telling you and check whether they are in immediate danger. Let them show you what happened, preserve safe evidence and agree the next step together.
Should I tell the school about cyberbullying that happened at home?
Yes, when pupils are involved or the incident is affecting your child’s safety, friendships, attendance or learning. Give the school a short factual record and ask for a named contact, actions and a review date.
Should I block the person immediately?
Preserve safe evidence first, unless leaving the contact open creates an immediate risk. Once the necessary information has been recorded, mute, block and report the account.
Should I take my child’s phone away?
Not by default. A blanket ban can feel punitive and may cut your child off from supportive friends. Use temporary, proportionate changes linked to the specific risk.
Can I screenshot a sexual image of someone under 18 as evidence?
Do not download, copy, print or forward a sexual image of a child. Record the account, URL and surrounding details, then use specialist reporting routes such as Childline and IWF Report Remove or CEOP when sexual abuse or grooming is involved.
When is cyberbullying a police matter?
Contact the police when behaviour may involve a crime, such as credible threats, repeated harassment, stalking, violence, blackmail or hate crime. Call 999 if somebody is in immediate danger.
This article provides general educational information and is not a substitute for professional safeguarding, medical, police or legal advice.
