Susan Limber, a professor and bullying researcher at Clemson University, said in a presentation last year that parents and schools need to take time to make it clear that cyber bullying is just as wrong as face-to-face bullying.

Many students who know it's wrong to pick on a classmate in person may not realize that something done online can be just as hurtful, she said in the webcast for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

f a child reports being bullied online, the response of many parents is to take away the child's internet access as a way to protect them. This is the wrong approach, Limber said. "In the children's eyes, this can be seen as punishment, so it's another reason they tell us they don't report it," she said.