SUMMIT COUNTY - Forget the name-calling on the playground, the way of bullying someone today is much more far reaching through photo manipulation, ridiculing text messages and mean MySpace pages.

In other words, along with increased access to technology comes increased cyberbullying - something the schools are working to combat and make parents aware of.

"This is the type of bullying that is probably going to get worse before it gets better, unfortunately," said Julie McCluskie, climate and communications coordinator with Summit School District. "Hiding behind a computer screen ... it's a different kind of power."

And while the cyber world may leave some parents lost in space, knowing children's passwords and checking out their MySpace pages are ways to combat bullying over the internet, officials say. Monitoring how long they are on the internet or cell phones and putting computers in easily viewable locations are other ways to stay on top of the issue, McCluskie said.

Also, even if it happens outside the school, parents are encouraged to tell school administration about the incident so they can look into the situation and take disciplinary action if necessary. Along with cyberbullying comes documentation of what happened, making the investigation clear cut, McCluskie said.

Bullying generally peaks in middle school and appears more frequently with girls, she added.

When McCluskie first started with the school district through a grant to address climate about two years ago, cyberbullying was not much of a mainstream term, she said. Since then, it has gained much attention.

Students have thought of ways to bully that generations who grew up without technology would never have dreamed of. Some examples, according to cyberbullying.org, include taking a picture of a student in the locker room and sending it out to others, posting pictures and having others rate them in a derogatory way, and engaging someone into revealing personal information and then sending it out in a mass e-mail.

John Halligan, of Vermont, who came to speak to middle and high school students at the beginning of school year, knows how serious cyberbullying can be. His 13-year-old son, Ryan, committed suicide while in eighth grade, Oct. 7, 2003, after he was taunted extensively via technology.

Today, his parents have put up a website, ryanpatrickhalligan.org, to spread awareness about the issue. In bold at the top of the site it reads, "If we only knew, if he only told us."

It goes on to tell the story of how rumors spread online and how the internet was a tool that intensified the bullying. In one instance a girl pretended to flirt with Ryan over the internet so he would share embarrassing secrets that she then distributed to her friends.

John Halligan writes, "Now certainly my son was not the first boy in history to be bullied and have his heart crushed by a pretty girl's rejection. But when I discovered a folder filled with IM exchanges throughout the summer and further interviewed his classmates, I realized that technology was being utilized as a weapon far more effective and reaching then the simple ones we had as kids. Passing handwritten notes or a 'slam' book has since been replaced with online tools such as IM, websites, blogs, cell phones, etc. The list keeps growing with the invention of every new hi-tech communication gadget."

Summit School District students say...

• 80 percent of 5th graders (who participated in the Bullying Prevention Initiative Survey in 2006) agree or really agree that students in their school can be trusted.

• 28 percent of 11th graders say that students making fun of others through e-mail or instant messaging is a pretty big or huge problem.

• Overall, 84 percent of 5th, 8th and 11th grade students say that that teasing weaker students in front of others is really wrong or sort of wrong.

Parents can help...

• Keep your child's computer in an easily viewable place.

• Talk to your child about cyberbullying and encourage them to tell you if they are being victimized. Save or print out the messages.

• Keep a list of your child's passwords and regularly check out their MySpace pages. Also, make sure they don't give their passwords to anyone else, including friends.



Lory Pounder can be reached at (970) 668-4628, or at lpounder@summitdaily.com.