In the 2003-04 school year, i-SAFE America surveyed students from across the country on a new topic: Cyber Bullying. It is a topic that not many adults were talking about. It turns out to be a topic all too familiar with students.

Bullying is no longer about the strong picking on the weak in the schoolyard. The physical assault has been replaced by a 24 hour per day, seven days a week online bashing. Savvy students are using Instant Messaging, e-mails, chat rooms and websites they create to humiliate a peer. No longer can parents count on seeing the tell-tale physical signs of bullying-a black eye, bloody lip, torn clothes. But the damage done by cyber bullies is no less real, and can be infinitely more painful. 

• 42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once.
• 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once.
• 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.
• 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.
• 53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once.
• 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

Based on 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1,500 students grades 4-8

What to Do If You're Bullied

• Tell a trusted adult about the bullying, and keep telling until the adult takes action.
• Don't open or read messages by cyber bullies.
• Tell your school if it is school related. Schools have a bullying solution in place.
• Don't erase the messages-they may be needed to take action.
• Protect yourself-never agree to meet with the person or with anyone you meet online.
• If bullied through chat or instant messaging, the "bully" can often be blocked.
• If you are threatened with harm, inform the local police.