National Children’s Mental Health Awareness day right around the corner on May 7th, 2015. Bullying and cyberbullying can cause long term emotional scars. Many times teens will hide these bruises from their parents – pretending to be brave – as if it isn’t cool to be sad or depressed.
Bullying has changed from the days of taking someone’s lunch money or giving them a swirly in the bathroom. Now, children are much more likely to engage in cyberbullying, or the use of electronic communication to bully a person. In fact, 20-30% of today’s children will be cyberbullied, and 10-20% of students will be cyberbullies.
However, it can be tricky for a parent to figure out if their child is experiencing cyberbullying; more than half of the children who experience cyberbullying do not tell their parents about it. And while around 55% of teens report having observed bullying behavior online, 95% report ignoring the behavior when it was observed.
There are a few tell-tale signs that can give clues that your child might be engaged in cyberbullying. For example long periods and odd hours of internet use, or changes in a child’s patterns of internet use, can signify cyberbullying. A child engaging in cyberbullying behavior might also become upset if their internet usage is confronted or cut off by their parents. Children with excessive social media accounts may be using them to follow and harass others.
Attribution – YellowBrick Program
Sue Scheff Blog 
Excellent post and valuable information for parents. I especially like the points for parents who suspect their child may by a cyberbully. Very well-rounded and poignant!