WHAT:

StopCyberbullying.org defines cyberbullying as 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.

WHEN:

Anytime. A bully can get to whomever s/he wants whenever as long as the victim has an email, IM login, social networking profile or a cell phone.

WHERE:

Most anywhere. Just like a cyberbully can attack whenever, they can also victimize you or someone you know because look around – who’s not on the Internet or a cell these days?

WHO:

Your best friend to the kid no one talks to at lunch. Anyone can be a victim and anyone can become a bully.

WHY:

There’s no real answer to this one. Someone could be angry, frustrated or even just plain old bored!

Just like your parents begin their stories with “back when I was young…” bullying has been around since who even knows when. On school grounds or somewhere nearby, countless kids have found themselves on the receiving end of verbal or physical abuse at the hands of a classmate (or even worse, a former BFF). Nowadays bullies can morph into their “cyber” forms and strike whenever they please.

Weigh the options and you might conclude that cyber attacks are preferable to an after-school fight in front of your classmates. Well, imagine for a minute not being able to find refuge from the abuse. Your home is no longer your safe haven. Your room—once a sanctuary from the outside world and even your parents—now a virtual war zone where your enemies have just as much access to you as your friends. Their fists might not be able to reach you but they can still torment you in chat rooms, social networking posts, IMs and texts.

Case in point: the highly-publicized case of Megan Meier, the 13-year old girl who committed suicide after being belittled and harassed by the mother of a friend of hers who was posing as a 16 year-old boy on MySpace. Read the entire story here on the foundation’s website set up in her name.

Heartbreakingly sad and unfortunately true, the Megan Meier story brought to light what happens when the online world intersects with the real world.

So if you didn’t believe your parents when they rattled off the phrase, “your actions have consequences” before, you cannot possibly deny it now. Though not every case results in such an extreme conclusion, lives can be disrupted and feelings irreparably hurt. Next time you are sitting comfortably behind your laptop screen or cradling a mobile handset contemplating what next to type, remember: you are dealing with a real person and that person has real feelings—just like you.

Learn more about what cyberbullying means and how you can stop yourself from being a cyberbully or what you can do if you find yourself a victim.