• Sending cruel, threatening messages
• Impersonation- Pretending to be someone else and and posting messages or pictures to damage that person's reputation
• Flaming- sending rude,vulgar or angry messages to someone with the express intent of causing mental or emotional harm
• Posting pictures of someone online without their permission- particularly unflattering pictures (ex.- using a cell phone to take pictures of someone in a locker room and posting them online)

• Harassment- sending repeated offensive messages
• Denigration- Putting down someone by posting harmful, untrue, or cruel statements about a person
• Exclusion- intentionally "rallying" others to exclude someone from online communication such as chatting or IM lists
• Ridiculing others on websites
• Breaking into an email account and sending vicious or embarrassing email to others in the account holders name
• Trickery- tricking someone into disclosing private information, which is then disseminated to others.

• Your child seems upset and/or anxious - especially after using their cell phone or computer.
• Complains frequently of headaches, stomachaches, or other stress related ailments.
• Withdrawal from groups of friends or after school activities.
• Change in grades or school behavior.

• Save any evidence you have and try to identify the cyberbully.
• Clearly tell the cyberbully to stop.
• Contact your school's guidance counselor or administrator. If your child is being bullied at school, work with the school to stop the bullying and make sure your child knows that he/she should not to retaliate online.
• Advise your child to ignore the cyberbully by leaving the online environment and/or blocking communication until the problem can be solved.
• Call the police, if the cyberbullying involves threats of violence, coercion, intimidation based on hate or bias, and any form of sexual exploitation.

• Talk to your child about treating people with kindness and respect online in a similar way that he/she would treat that person face-to-face
• Emphasize the fact that you expect your son or daughter to treat others in the same way that they would like to be treated.
• Remind your child that he/she needs to act with these values no matter what the circumstances- a face-to-face meeting, online, on a cell phone, gaming, or using any other electronic device.
• Emphasize your family's values and the importance of doing what is right regardless of the potential of detection or punishment by you or anyone else.
• Explain to your child that using the family Internet account to bully or threaten could lead to the lose of that account for the entire family.
• Help your teen learn effective decision making strategies to guide their online behavior.

• Are you being kind and demonstrating respect for others?
• How would you feel if someone did the same thing to you?
• What would a trusted adult, who is important in your life, think?
• Is this action in violation of any agreements, rules, or laws?
• How would you feel if your acts were reported on the front page of the newspaper?
• What would happen if everybody did this?
• Would it be OK if you did this in the real world?
• How would this reflect on you and your values?
  ( reprinted with permission from Parent's Guide to Cyberbullying- Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use)

Additional Resources on Cyberbullying
videos from netsmartz.org

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