Cyberbullying 101

Cyberbullying is a concept that most parents I speak with aren't familiar with. However, my cousin, who is a middle school guidance counselor, is very familiar with it. She says it's running rampant in the local schools.

Is it because parents aren't aware of what their teens and tweens are doing online? Maybe it's not getting talked about at the dinner table, but the NY Times has an article about it to get you up to speed.

"Bullying today is less about children hitting each other than it is about children being victimized by a culture of meanness," said Alane Fagin, executive director of the organization. "Children understand what many adults seem to have forgotten: You don't have to get hit to get hurt."

And the Internet is making matters a great deal worse, parents and experts say, because it provides a cloak of anonymity and removes physical size and bravery from the equation. Children as young as 7 or 8, who would never have dared to belittle or confront a classmate face to face, are empowered to be vulgar and vengeful at the keyboard.

Read the whole article.