Tips to avoid being bothered on the internet:

1. Don't give out any personal information about yourself or anyone else that could be used to contact you in real life (IRL), eg. phone number, address, places that you go to in your free time, school name,…
2. Do not give out your email address to strangers. This can be used to get access to your personal information, and then pester you and your contacts. Change passwords often.
3. If you use sites to post details about yourself, don’t give free access to your information. Use the tools provided by the site to choose who can get to it.
4. Choose a gender-neutral, non-provocative screen name to avoid unwanted attention.
5. Don't flirt online as you may attract the wrong type of surfer. Set your own standards and rules about what you feel happy talking about, and stick to them.
6. Be extremely careful about meeting somebody that you have met online. Not everyone is who they say they are, and it is dangerous to meet with strangers, especially alone.
7. Don't respond to flaming (provocation online) or messages that make you feel uncomfortable. This will just make the person continue to bother you. It’s best to ignore them, and either block the person or log off and go somewhere else.
8. Save offending messages and report them to your Internet service provider. If someone makes threats in a chat room or on a message board, notify the moderator or Web site operator right away.
9. Talk to your parents or another trusted adult if you are worried about something to do with chat rooms or emails. You don’t have to deal with your worries alone, and if something or someone is bothering you, it’s important that you ask others for help.