Recently a Fox television station online site had this article about a recent attack by a group of Florida teenage girls on one of their fellow cheerleaders. Eight teens brutally beat a 16-year-old girl and then posted a video of the attack on YouTube.  It was reported that the fight may have been the result of a negative posting the victim placed on her MySpace page, and in retaliation the girls physically attacked her - and recorded the entire attack.

The Fox reporter made an important point, one I believe parents need to understand:  today the fights aren't necessarily started on the playground.  An altercation can be initiated on the Internet -- and the results can be very destructive.

One of the most tragic cyber bullying stories came to national attention last year.

In St. Louis, a teenage girl, Megan Meier, committed suicide after a "boy" with whom she developed an online relationship said he no longer liked her and he didn't want to talk with her again.  The "boy" was actually a classmate's mother who was pretending to be a teenage boy and devised the plan to hurt Megan because she thought Megan had actually been mean to her own daughter.

These are two extreme cases of cyber bullying, but there are other common ways teens can bully one another (and be bullied) online.  For example, kids post mean comments on social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook or send instant messages or spread rumors through e-mails that are then forwarded on to others.

One important solution?  Parents:  talk to your kids! Engage your family in a discussion about the possible dangers that can occur online... including cyber bullying.