A new form of harassment seems to be introduced in our daily life: online harassment. A movie star from South Korea committed suicide because of the pressures and malicious comments that appeared systematically about her, online.
The actress was found dead in apartment or on Oct. 2. Police investigations conclusions were that she took her life because of the humiliation that she felt because of all online posting about her.
This tragedy revealed many such cases of suicides caused by harassment in the Cyberspace.

Cyberstalkers (as they were named) use a variety of techniques to harass their victims, including sending hostile e-mails, publishing falsehoods about them in chat rooms and Usenet postings and even posing as the victims in provocative Internet communications and e-mail messages to others.

And the cyberstalking problem appears to be getting worse, experts say. The cyberstalking phenomenon appears to be part of a “migration” of traditional crimes – including threats, child pornography, fraud, gambling and extortion — from the physical to the online world.

Many cases involve ex-spouses, former lovers or estranged relatives, but some cyberstalkers are strangers who have simply taken a dislike to their victims for some reason.

Below you can find 2007 Statistics about online harassment.

Age of Victim 18-30 28% 31-40 24% 41+ 29% Unk 19%
Gender of Victim Female 61% Male 21% Unk 18%
Gender of Harasser Male 39% Female 30% Unk 31%
Prior relationship with harasser? No 56% Yes 44%
If yes, what was the relationship? Ex 31% Online Acq 27% Friend 14% Family 13% Work 7% Roommate 3% Customer 3% School 1% Co-owner 1%
Were there threats of offline/physical violence? Yes 24%
Did victim report the harassment? Yes 59% No 41%
Source: WHO@

However we didn’t found any data here about those under 18 years harassed online. Maybe the parents reported for them, or maybe they didn’t tell anyone about what happened. Anyhow, more and more organizations publish online guides about privacy and online threats. You can find them at a simple web search.

If you notice any changes in your child’s behavior or you just suspect that his online activity can threat his safety, take action. Also if you suspect some of your online activities, take action. Let’s make sure that online harassment meets his fall.