A research conducted by the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes against Children Research Center among 1500 young people ages 10 to 17 across the nation has revealed that 1 in 4 (27%) teenagers are cyberbullies and 6% harass or bully others online frequently.
“Youth who harass others online are twice as likely to have conflict with their parents. It’s important to involve parents in Internet safety efforts, but it’s important also to engage teenagers,” said Dr. Michele Ybarra, the principal author of the study.
There is a Website called Cyberbully411.org for teens involved in Internet harassment and provides roadmap to thwarting teen cyberbullying.
Recently, public concern has focused on accounts of children and teenagers being sexually solicited and harassed on social networking sites. Some politicians and lawmakers are advocating measures to restrict children and teenagers’ access to these sites as a means of preventing sexual exploitation of young Internet users.
Originally posted on September 12, 2007 @ 7:32 am