Cyber Bullying

What is cyber bullying?

Cyberbullying is when one person or a group of people aim to threaten, tease or embarrass someone else by using a mobile phone, the internet or other technologies.

The main forms are:
- Email
- Instant messenger and chatrooms
- Social networking sites
- Mobile phone
- Interactive gaming
- Sending viruses and hacking to others computers
- Abusing personal information


The effects of cyber bullying
Even though cyberbullying cannot physically hurt you, it can still leave you feeling mentally vulnerable and very upset. You can also feel scared, lonely and stressed and that there’s no way out.

Escaping cyberbullying can be very difficult. Because anyone can get access to a mobile phone or the internet almost anywhere, it can be tough for those on the receiving end to avoid it, even in the safety of their own home.

Cyber Bullying Statistics

In September 2006, ABC News reported on a survey prepared by I-Safe.Org. This 2004 survey of 1,500 students between grades 4-8 reported:
-42% of kids have been bullied while online. One in four have had it happen more than once.
-35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly one in five had had it happen more than once.
-21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mails or other messages.
-58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than four out of ten say it has happened more than once.
-58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.
A 2006 survey by Harris Interactive reported:
-43% of U.S. teens having experienced some form of cyberbullying in the past year.
Similarly, a Canadian study found:
-23% of middle-schoolers surveyed had been bullied by e-mail
-35% in chat rooms
-41% by text messages on their cell phones
Fully 41% did not know the identity of the perpetrators.

I got this information from the following:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-bullying
-http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/HealthAndRelationships/Bullying/DG_070501