Bullying was pretty much restricted to the schoolyard a few years ago. A child might have dreaded going to school, but at least home was a safe haven.

Many teenagers spend
hours a day on MSN

No longer. The internet has brought a new kind of bullying, and it has brought it right into our homes, sometimes without parents even being aware that it's happening.

Cyber-bullying takes many forms: abusive e-mails, hate websites, rumour-mongering in chat rooms, distribution of embarrassing photographs. The results can be even more devastating than old-style bullying, and longer lasting. What happens in the schoolyard usually stays in the schoolyard, but activity on the internet is available for the whole world to see, and potentially never goes away.

• CBC-TV feature on cyber-bullying:
• Part one, May 23, 2006: The CBC's Sally Pitt looks at how the hours spent by teenagers on-line can easily turn to trouble (runs 6:21)
  
  
• Part two, May 24, 2006: Sally Pitt talks to teachers and police about what parents should do to protect their children from cyber-bullying (runs 6:44)

In the faceless and seemingly anonymous world of the internet, innocent chat can easily degenerate, moving quickly from angry words, to the spreading of vicious rumours, to the creation of hate sites.

The RCMP have prepared a
presentation for high school
students on the dangers
of the internet

Recently in New Brunswick, cyber-bullying led to a violent incident in the real world. Police linked a stabbing at a school cafeteria in the Richibucto area to it. Police in Nova Scotia are reporting an increase in cyber-bullying complaints, and Regina has created a bylaw dealing with cyber-bullying.

On Prince Edward Island, schools and police are working together to try to prevent cyber-bullying. Sally Pitt has prepared a special two-part report for CBC-TV.

CBC.ca has gathered together this material to help parents and young people deal with this growing problem.