t i a o r t r P of a
y l l Bu by Paul Asay
Back in the day, the bully was easy to spot. He was the thug in the back of the classroom who’d smoke, sneer, steal milk money and give swirlies to anyone who looked at him crooked. Bullies of the 21st century aren’t as obvious. They come in all shapes and sizes. They’re often girls, some as young as seven or eight. And they include the “nice” kids with good report cards, stuffed bunnies on their beds and Bible verses on their MySpace pages. In cyberspace, these bullies roam unfettered and attack without conscience. Often they hunt in packs. Their most vicious thoughts—unshackled by decorum and societal norms— find voice in e-mails, instant messages, Web sites and chat rooms.
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“It can be devastating,” Vicki Courtney, author of Logged On and Tuned Out: A Non-Techie’s Guide to Parenting a Tech-Savvy Generation, told Plugged In. “It can escalate very quickly. And it has a group-think effect—the gang effect, if you will.”
A Growing Problem Cyberbullying refers to all sorts of online harassment, from a nasty e-mail to the deliberate, systematic destruction of a child’s psyche. It can involve the forwarding of “private” information or photos, or even setting up a website