MySpace Bullies-The New Threat

Just a short time ago, all parents had to worry about was their teenager being bullied while at school. You could always talk to your teen, talk to the principal, or the bullies parents. There were options, as long as you knew that your teen was being bullied, and the signs were there. Not wanting to go to school, a black eye, a call from the teacher were enough to alert a parent about bullying.

Today, there is a new form of bullying that may be effecting your teen and no one is going to tell you about it. Cyber bullies lurk on MySpace and other social networks and they may be targeting your teen. Parents worry about their teenagers talking to adults posing as other teenagers and a teen how may reveal too much personal information on MySpace, but you can warn your teen about these dangers. Bullying is not so easy to spot. Your teenager may not even realize that they are being bullied on MySpace.

Teenagers are very tech savy, allowing bullies to find new ways to harass your child online. Bullying may be limited to name calling, and a few hurt feelings. While devastating to a teenager, this is not as bad it it can get. Teenagers have been known to steal their classmates MySpace passwords and post all sorts of embarrassing items in another persons name. Camera phones have even been used to take embarassing pictures of teenagers at school, then they are posted online for the world to see. It's enough to make your teen never want to leave home again if they are the victim.

Schools have been loath to get involved, as most bullying occurs from bullies who are at home, logged in to their personal computer. Cyber space is considered a safe space to bully others by some teens because of the anonymity. Social media a new venue to bully others without getting caught.

What can you do as a parent? Look at your teenagers MySpace activity with new eyes. While checking for adults posing as teens and sexual predators, we tend to overlook a teens classmates as a potential threat. Few teenagers want to admit that they are being bullied online, some may not even realize that it is the same as being bullied in person.

If you know about a bully threatening your teenager, there are thing that can be done. First, you or your teen should contact the bully and demand that they stop immediately. Save this communication, you may need it later. Contact the social media site to report the bullying as well. If the bullying does not stop, contact law enforcement officials. You may also contact the teen's school, but may schools are unable to intervene unless the online activity takes place at the school. It is up to parents to let teenagers know what types of behavior are inappropriate online and bullying in any form is wrong.