What parents need to know about cyberbullying

  • Published
  • By Sarina Houston
  • 3rd Flying Training Squadron key spouse
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Last month I wrote about bullying. As it turns out, people are passionate about the topic of bullying.

I received a lot of feedback, so this month I wanted to focus on cyberbullying. And since October is Bullying Prevention Month, I thought I'd highlight some facts about cyberbullying and cellphone harassment.

Cyberbullying isn't much different than traditional bullying; both involve unwanted harassment over a period of time. What makes cyberbullying different is the public and permanent nature of the content, along with the ability for a bully to "hide" behind technology.

Online bullying is often more upsetting to the victim because it's out there for everyone to see and it isn't easy to expunge.

Here are a few important facts about cyberbullying and cellphone harassment from the Pew Research Center's Internet site:
  • Ninety-three percent of teens go online and 63 percent go online daily.
  • Thirty-eight percent of young people have been cyberbullied.
  • Girls are more likely to be cyberbullied than boys.
  • Cyberbullying is most common among 14-17 year olds.
  • Three out of four teenagers use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
  • Three out of four teenagers have cellphones.
  • Twenty-six percent of teens have been harassed via cellphone.
  • Almost 50 percent of teens admit to sending a text message that they regret.
  • Fifteen percent of cellphone owning teenagers have received a sexually suggestive photo or video of someone they know.
  • One in six teens says that someone else made private information about them public, such as posting a private photo or sharing a text message publicly without permission.
These statistics are enough to make you want to keep your teenager from using a computer or a cellphone. But remember, bullying takes place anywhere kids exist.
 
Surprisingly, most teens that were surveyed still said that the majority of bullying takes place offline -- a reminder for parents to be vigilant about all aspects of their teenagers' lives.

(Editor's note: Houston's previous article about bullying is located at http://www.vance.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123363680.)

Sarina is the Key Spouse for the 3rd Flying Training Squadron and is married to Capt. Jacob Houston in the 3rd FTS at Vance AFB.