Online bullying could be more pervasive than you think. Three out of four teens were bullied online over the last year, according to a study released recently by psychologists at the University of California at Los Angeles. And while that number may seem high at the outset, only 1 in 10 of those kids told their parents or another adult about it, the study showed.

The anonymous Web-based study surveyed 1,454 kids between the ages of 12 and 17. Of those, 41 percent reported between one and three cyberbullying incidents during the year; 13 percent reported four to six incidents; and 19 percent reported seven or more. In other words, no longer are victims of bullying relegated to the geeks and nerds of yore when it comes to the Internet.

The psychologists published the results of their research in the September issue of the Journal of School Health.

Many teens neglected to tell their parents about the incidents because they believed they "need to learn to deal with it," according to the research. Others kept it to themselves because they feared that their parents would cut back on their Internet access.

Source: cnet news
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10058444-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Online bullying has emerged as another here-to-stay aspect of our wired world. Have your kids been the victims of cyberbullying? Have they cyberbullied others? It seems that since only 1 in 10 kids who have been cyberbullied tell their parents, it would be a good idea for parents to bring up the issue for discussion with their kids.