Today, I was thinking a little bit about "bullying"...

I often see the "little kid" in the eyes of some of my high school students when we hit the topic of stereotypes and especially bullying in school. I'll ask that they not necessarily raise their hand, but if they will just think back to when they were in elementary school and middle school (for some of them, that is not that long ago...) and it is hard to define, but it's a sort of wistfulness that sweeps across their face. It's a notion that they are having a vague feeling of nostalgia mixed with a sort of melancholy. I know from their faces that they have been the victim of hurtful words from time to time.

We all have.

I remember once when someone I didn't even know called me a name, based on my physical characteristics. I was stung, and then I was just angry. I understand how it feels to be bullied.

Our school counselor is going to be doing a presentation to our school next Monday on cyber-bullying, and I can hardly wait to hear it. I think it does us all good to consider what we might be doing online at a later age that equates to those hurtful playground comments that we can all remember hearing as little kids, and then the "snickering and whispers" of middle school.

Every age has its stupid behaviors. It's time to analyze what we are doing in high school to each other.

Cyberbullying.

Consider this for a moment:

"Cyberbullying" is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Adult cyber-harassment or cyberstalking is NEVER called cyberbullying.
The methods used are limited only by the child's imagination and access to technology. And the cyberbully one moment may become the victim the next. The kids often change roles, going from victim to bully and back again.

Children have killed each other and committed suicide after having been involved in a cyberbullying incident.

Cyberbullying is usually not a one time communication, unless it involves a death threat or a credible threat of serious bodily harm. Kids usually know it when they see it, while parents may be more worried about the lewd language used by the kids than the hurtful effect of rude and embarrassing posts.

Cyberbullying may arise to the level of a misdemeanor cyberharassment charge, or if the child is young enough may result in the charge of juvenile delinquency. Most of the time the cyberbullying does not go that far, although parents often try and pursue criminal charges. It typically can result in a child losing their ISP or IM accounts as a terms of service violation. And in some cases, if hacking or password and identity theft is involved, it can be a serious criminal matter under state and federal law.