from The Motherlode: Adventures in Parenting, NY TIMES...

Have you ever been bullied online?

Parents worry about their children’s safety on the Internet, and with good reason. As the Kaiser Family Foundation told us last week, our kids spend an average of 7.5 hours every day on some sort of electronic device, and other studies show that too much of the time they spend on the Web leaves them vulnerable to the newest form of bullying.

Over on Slate.com, Emily Bazelon is starting a campaign against cyberbullying and collecting tales from readers. She is looking at teens picking on teens – almost one in three of whom, she notes, have been harassed online, which she defines as “receiving threatening messages; having their private e-mails or text messages forwarded without consent; having an embarrassing picture posted without permission; or having rumors spread about them online.”

But adults bully electronically, too, and Bazelon also wants to hear those stories. After all, it was a mother who created the fictional MySpace “boy”, who persecuted 13-year-old Megan Meier, leading the teen to commit suicide. Parents attack each other, too. The anonymity of the Internet has a way of bringing out the harsh, judgmental streak in strangers who would never belittle another parent in person.



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