This is a very insightful article regarding cyber-bullying and the damage that it can do;
"Bullying is a form of aggression where one or more people repeatedly and intentionally intimidate, harass or harm (physically or emotionally) someone else, often to control or manipulate them.
About one-third of children in grades 6 through 10 are involved in moderate or frequent bullying (as victim or bully).
What you are referring to is called cyberbullying, done via technology, such as on Facebook, e-mail, cell phone and the like. Cyberbullying may manifest as mean e-mails or texts, spreading of rumors, hurtful Web posts, hacking into the victim's online account and/or sending pictures (even revealing or sexually explicit). Sometimes, the bully will pretend to be someone else to do these things. There may be a direct interaction from bully to victim, or it can be done in a more public forum with Web posts and so on.
One expert on cyberbullying, notes cyberbullies can be categorized as:
- Vengeful angels who believe they are protecting themselves or someone else, or are righting a wrong they feel their victim is responsible for.
- Power-hungry children who are trying to control the victim, similar to typical schoolyard bullies, except the method utilizes cyberspace.
- Revengeful children who are striking back at someone.
- "Mean girls" (like in the movie of the same name) who do it to enhance their feeling of power or social standing.
Inadvertent bullies who do something on impulse without really thinking it through or realizing what they have done.
Anyone can be a victim of cyberbullying, however, girls in middle and high school are the most common victims. Recently, there have been several highly publicized cases where the victims were bullied because of their sexual orientation; there is concern this hate crime is on the rise..."
- http://www.wickedlocal.com/berkley/wicked_local_parents/x1271424722/WHATS-UP-DOC-Online-bullying-does-great-damage
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Source: wickedlocal.com