Bullying is nothing new.  Whether it be with fists or words, there have always been people who try to exert their power or just torment others.

What is new is cyberbullying -- when kids or teens harass, tease or spread harmful or illegal statements or materials about others via the Internet or cell phones. Sometimes, it is a harmless prank that gets out of hand; other times, it is malicious and dangerous.( If an adult is involved as either the bully or the victim it is termed  cyber-harassment, not cyberbullying.)

Children as young as nine years old are finding themselves harassed via blogs, Web sites, text-messaging and instant messaging.  And, many retaliate by becoming cyberbullies themselves.  Cyberbullies are often real life bullying victims who turn to the Internet as a way to get even.

This kind of activity often begins on school grounds and continues at home, creating many gray areas of responsibility and liability.

Some examples of Cyberbullying are:

• Someone has a Web site where children can vote for the ugliest, most unpopular or fattest girl in the school.
• Someone sends private and very personal information or images about someone else to  others or posts  them online for the public to see.
• Former best friends betray the other’s trust or passwords.
• Someone posts a nasty thing about another in a "Blog,"  a popular Web diary kept by children and teens.
• Someone with a photo or video cell phone shoots pictures in a locker room or bathroom and posts them on Internet.
• Someone puts hateful messages into a child's Web site guestbook.

You can take a cyberbullying quiz to determine if you're a victim of cyberbullying.

We'd like to thank Parry Aftab for her input in developing this content.  Aftab is a privacy lawyer specializing in the cybercrime, privacy and cyber-abuse risks.  You can learn  more about her and her work by visiting her Web site at http://www.aftab.com/.