MSNBC, April 24, 2011
"One evening two weeks ago, Nancy Anderson Dolan's 13-year-old son opened his laptop and yelled like he'd been struck. Dolan rushed to his side and saw what had appalled her child: An expletive-filled message from a child her son has known for years, threatening to hurt him.
Moments later, her son's phone lit up with text messages from another child: More threats, more cruel insults.
'It was an odd experience, like kind of a home invasion, actually, because it was just so sudden and unexpected,' Dolan, a counselor in Calgary, Alberta, told LiveScience. 'It was freakish. You just couldn't wrap your mind around something like this happening.'
Even now, after involving her son's school and helping him recover from the cyberbullying incident, Dolan finds herself on edge.
'We are having a pretty optimal response, but still that sense of not being able to keep my child safe is so pervasive,' she said. 'It strips away any facade you might have that you think you are able to protect your children.'
Most research on bullying has focused on its effect on children, for the good reason that children bear the brunt of the suffering. But parent reports suggest that Dolan's emotional reaction isn't unusual. When a kid is bullied, many parents say they feel angry, frustrated and helpless." Read More
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