Bullying has been a problem for children as long as there have been children. These days though, bullying has taken a technological turn and, in doing so, has become more secretive that it has ever been before.

With CyberBullying becoming a bigger and more recognized problem, parents need to know and share safety tips with their children on how to handle these types of situations. Below is a list of helpful tips and reminders that can be used to help recognize these potentially hazardous situations and how to respond to them appropriately.

You should choose a screen name or email address that would not reveal too much about yourself. Choose a screen name that would not identify your age, gender and occupation. Furthermore, pick a screen name or email address that is clean and has no connotations.

Cyber bullying is characterized by sending hateful or threatening emails or online messages directed at a particular person via the Internet or mobile phone. The spreading of lies, malicious content and other things that can damage a person’s reputation through the use of blogs, social networks, forums, etc can also be considered as cyber bullying.

“Cyber-bullying is when one child or teen targets another for embarrassment, humiliation, fear, blackmail. Something designed to hurt the other using an interactive technology,” said security, privacy and cyberspace lawyer and executive director of WiredSafety, Parry Aftab.

“That’s made a big difference because kids have learned that they can use the internet as a weapon.”