Cyberbullying Becoming a Growing Problem

Coco Warner Reporting Cyberbullying is a problem that wasn't even on the radar a few years ago. But now, it's the focus of Utah's First Lady.

In year's past, schools like Taylorsville High only had to deal with passed notes in class. But now, communication happens via cell phones and the Internet, which can be difficult to control -- so difficult, that many students are being harassed, hurt and disparaged with this technology, or cyberbullying.

Utah's First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman launched her Power in You program two years ago. Back then she wasn't aware of cyberbullying; few people were. But now it's a major problem.

Mary Kaye Huntsman, Utah's first lady: "One of the surprising things is only 15 percent of parents know that this is a problem. They just did a study in Parade Magazine that showed nine out of 10 middle school students had been hurt online. That's huge."

Lisa Read, Cyberbullied teen: "I don't wanna hear those things in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep, and it's just the things that are really suggestive that didn't make me feel good. So that's when I talked to someone else about it."

Taylorsville High School senior Lisa Read was harassed by an anonymous caller for about a month. Her family considered involving police before the calls eventually stopped. But law enforcement wants the public to know it will get involved if the situation warrants it. And the public can find out more information about cyberbullying, what it is and what you can do to stop it through the Power in You Program. For more about the Power in You Program, click on the link to the right.

Again, this is becoming such a huge problem because people can do it anonymously. Law enforcement will be looking into this form of harassment as well.

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