Bullying is nothing new to school or youth culture. The past several decades in the United States have seen a remarkably consistent pattern, with bullying beginning in the elementary school years, peaking in frequency and intensity during junior high school (grades six through eight) and leveling off (but continuing) through high school.

But the rise of the Internet as a mean of regular communication between our children has opened up new doors for those who wish to bully other children. Chat rooms, MySpace, email, instant messaging and other online tools have all helped create the cyber bullying epidemic.

Statistics about cyberbullying

• According to the National Crime Prevention Center, over 40% of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online during the past year.
• Girls are more likely than boys to be the target of cyberbullying. Also, there is a direct correlation to the amount of time girls spend online and the likelihood that they will be bullied.
• The National Crime Prevention Center National Crime Prevention Center study found that only 10% of those kids who were bullied told their parents about the incident, and that a mere 18% of the cases were reported to a local or national law enforcement agency.
• Only 15% of parents are “in the know” about their kids’ social networking habits, and how these behaviors can lead to cyberbullying.
• Currently, the most common virtual locations for cyberbullying are chat rooms, social networking web sites, email and instant message systems.
• Of the technologies above, chat rooms are currently where the most cyberbullying occurs, with various sources finding anywhere between 45% - 57% of all incidents originating there.
• Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are growing fast, and so are the cyberbullying incidents originating from them. Experts believe that they will soon overtake chat rooms as the top source of cyberbullying problems worldwide.
• According to a recent study, 58% of 4th through 8th graders reported having mean or cruel things said to them online. 53% said that they have said mean or hurtful things to others while online. 42% of those studied said that they had been “bullied online”, but almost 60% have never told their parents about the incident.
• Cell phone cameras and digital cameras are a growing problem in the cyberbullying world. A recent survey found that 10% of 770 young people surveyed were made to feel “threatened, embarrassed or uncomfortable” by a photo taken of them using a cell-phone camera.
• According to extensive research on middle school age students and teenagers online, the fastest growing problems within the world of cyberbullying are:
  • Stealing an individual’s name and password to a social networking site, then using their profile to post rumors, gossip or other damaging information.
  • Altering photographs using PhotoShop or other photo editing software in order to humiliate the individual.
  • Recording conversations without the individual’s knowledge or consent, then posting the call online.
  • Creating confrontational and mean-spirited online polls about the individual and posting them on different web sites.
  • Using web sites and blogs to post hurtful, embarrassing information about another individual.