According to one of the most popular definitions, cyberbullying (cyber-bullying, online bullying) is the use of electronic information and communication devices such as e-mail, instant messaging, text messages, mobile phones, pagers and defamatory websites to bully or otherwise harass an individual or group through personal attacks or other means, and it may constitute a computer crime. Cyber bullying is willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text.

There are different types of cyber bullying, but all of them have some common features.

The cyber bulling may start in the internet and stay there, not reaching the real life. In this case the bully and the victim usually haven’t met in person, and don’t know each other in the real life. This type of bulling might starts with a “flame”, or by innocent conversation in a chat room.

“Flame” is an insulting or provocative massage, posted on an internet forum, and usually expressing opinion that is likely to provoke negative reaction. The person that posted the massage waits until someone replies to it, and then he marks the replier as a target. The cyber bully (person who is carrying out the internet harassment) then starts e-mailing the target, posting mean messages and making insulting statements, concerning the victim’s character or appearance. This type of cyber bullying is less tormenting, and usually doesn’t last long, because the bully doesn’t know the victim in person and if the victim stops showing reaction to the attacks, the bully soon gets bored and stops, or finds another victim.

The other, more dangerous and traumatizing type of cyber bulling is when the victim and the bully have met in person, or even know each other well. In this case the assaults are more personal, and affect the victim more. The cyber bullying may be extension of bullying in the real life, or it could be the other way round. Sometimes the bullies even create special internet sites, dedicated to the victim, where they publish insulting messages, private information and even pictures, not only of the target, but often of his/her family and friends. There are cases, where such internet sites have existed for months and even years, before the victim finds out. There are even cases of internet sites, on which the bullies search for supporters and make coalitions against the target child, or make lists of their so called “losers” schoolmates.

For an adult the cyber bulling may not sound like a big deal, since no physical abuse is involved, but don’t forget that the child’s mental balance is more fragile, and such an experience may lead to lost of self-confidence, depression, isolation form their coevals and friends- things that may affect the child’s future life severely. The things become even worse if the victim and the bully study at the same school, or are neighbors, because they often meet and the child is being insulted or threatened on daily bases and it doesn’t feel safe any more, not only on the street or at school, but at home too. The bully trespasses the victim’s personal space and deprives him of the feeling of safety that each child should fill when at home.