Talking Point: How does cyberbullying affect the lives of young people?

In the past, bullying occurred in places such as the school playground. But these days, some young people fall victim to a more sinister type of abuse: cyberbullying. Using different types of technology, young people can now be subjected to a world of virtual taunting and harassment. To help protect young people, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre has asked social networking site Facebook to install a panic button on every page of its site, which would allow users to report abuse immediately.

Start a discussion with young people about cyberbullying. Are young people aware of what it is? Discuss what it might involve. Cyberbullying is defined as a young person bullying another young person using technology such as text messages, social networking sites, chat rooms or emails. Writing nasty comments about someone on their Facebook page, sending threatening or abusive texts and writing intimidating emails are all forms of cyberbullying. Some cyberbullies have even created online hate groups about a young person and invited their peers to join.