During recess and after school, bullies prey on "the weak." They scour hallways, looking for vulnerable kids who lack their own posse of pals to back 'em up should an altercation arise.

Now, meanies are taking the immaturity online. Far from the halls and schoolyards, these antagonist youths are creating Web sites, IM'ing students, and sending e-mails that are harassing and hateful. Who are they? They're  

cyber-bullies

 .

Cyber-Bullying 4-1-1
"When people learned to program Web pages, a whole new world opened up," says Derek Randel, a former middle school and high school teacher, and author of "The Shameful Epidemic," an e-book that examines bullying of all kinds. "Now kids are being bullied wherever they go, including inside their own homes.

"Imagine finding a message board with resentful comments about you, or coming across an e-mail with gossip regarding you and your friends. How about getting harassed by an anonymous screen name on Instant Messenger? These are just some of the acts e-bullies commit.

"Many kids use IM to play tricks or pranks on their friends. They can create fake profiles to provoke 'funny' reactions from strangers, or trick a friend into saying something embarrassing in front of the person he or she has a crush on," says Stacy DeBroff, author of "The Mom Book! 4,278 Tips for Moms" (Free Press, 2002) and founder of www.momcentral.com. "Some even encourage friends to use bad language and then notify their provider so they revoke their privileges."

Cyber-bullying, though only verbal, is sometimes worse than the bullying that goes on in the halls. Because of the anonymity of online harassment, comments tend to be more vicious and hurtful than those that occur in person, Randel points out. Moreover, cyber-bullies are often free from official consequences. You can't tell your teacher on a cyber-bully if his or her identity is not revealed.

Bullying Consequences
Don't get any ideas, cyber-bullies! If you think online pranking can elicit laughter or make you feel better about yourself, think again. Harassing and tormenting your peers on the Internet can result in criminal charges. Who'll be laughing then? Certainly not the three Loranger High School (Loranger, LA) students who were arrested in January for cyber stalking.

Investigators with the state Attorney General's High-Tech Crimes Unit say the situation began with a Web site called "Lorangersbiggestqueer.com." The site, which was created by a 15-year-old female student, featured pictures of a 14-year-old male student. The 14-year-old retaliated with his own Web site that included a list of students he called "The Preps," accompanied by graphically violent poetry.

Authorities confiscated the computers and arrested both students, along with Joseph Sanchez, an 18-year-old who helped the younger male student set up and maintain his Web page. Joseph was charged with a felony, while the younger students were charged as juveniles.

Staying Cyber Safe
More than 40 percent of kids have been bullied online, according to i-SAFE America, a nonprofit group that educates parents and kids about Internet responsibility. And that number is projected to grow as young people become more and more Internet savvy.

Next time you're online, avoid cyber-bullies using these tips from Kidscape, a British charity that helps prevent bullying and child abuse (www.kidscape.org.uk):

• When creating a screen name, use an alias that doesn't give away your age, gender, or location.
  


• Don't reply to text messaging or video messaging that is abusive or obscene. Your service provider should have a number to call or an e-mail address to report abusive messaging.
  


• Don't respond to abusive posting on message boards. Ignore it or log off. Think about what you write -- it's easy for people to get the wrong idea about what you write or how you write it.
  


• If the abusive e-mails or IMs don't stop, find out the source, if possible. You can then have your parents contact the school or service provider of the sender.
  


• Delete hateful e-mails, but if the situation becomes serious, save or print them as evidence.
  


• If the cyber-bullying is on a school or community Web site, tell your parents or teachers. If the cyber-bullying is on an independent Web site, do research to find out who hosts the site, and report it to them.

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