Jiberish

Another issue associated with social networking is cyber bullying. "Cyber-bullying involves the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging, and personal web sites to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others" (Keith, Martin. 2005). Children nowadays are almost always connected or wired, and they are able to communicate in various ways that parents are not always able to supervise. "This can make it hard for parents and school administrators to both understand the nature of the problem and do something about it" (Keith, Martin. 2005). There have been some serveys done in the United States to get a better understanding of just how many students are being cyber-bullied, and how many students are cyber-bullying themselves. 1, 566 students from grades four to eight were surveyed to find out their experiences with bullying online. The survery found that: 57 % of students said that someone said hurtful or angry things to them online with 13% saying it happens "quite often"; 35% of students have been threatened online with 5% saying it happens "quite often"; 42% have been bullied online with 7% saying it happens "quite often"; 20% have received mean or threatening e-mails; and the sad part is that 58% have not told their parents or another adult about their experiences online (Keith, Marin. 2005).

Another disadvantage of social networking is that although it is easily accessible, this may be an issue especially for young teenagers and online predators who may abuse and misuse these sites. There was a study conducted that surveyed British students and that showed that "British parent(s) and carer(s) have little idea of what their children are up to when using these sites" (Reid 2009). This study reported that one out of every ten teens had posted something on a site that was potentially damaging to themselves. In this same study, about 39% of teens had posted