Text bullying has become a serious problem among adolescents and teens.

It can have devastating consequences, and parents may not even know it's occurring. Parents can play an important role in preventing text bullying and helping teens who have been the victim of a text bully. Text bullying is sending mean, embarrassing, untrue, or hurtful message to or about someone using cell phone text messaging. This can also include sexting, or sending sexually suggestive text messages to someone or about someone. Many kids get cell phones when they are in middle school, which is when bullying, including text bullying, is most common. Almost 9 out of 10 teens have a cell phone, and about 1 in 5 will be victims of a text bully. About 1 in 10 teens engage in text bullying. Text bullying has become more common than traditional bullying, especially among girls. There are several factors that can make text bullying more damaging than traditional bullying for both the victim and the bully: It can happen 24 hours a day, even at home, which is usually a refuge from bullying, so it can feel inescapable. Text bullies are often much meaner because they don't have to see their victims. The victims may not know who is sending the messages, which can be frightening. Teens may think text bullying is anonymous and that they can't get caught. They also may use someone else's phone to send the messages. Text bullying can often be traced, however, and the bully, as well as his or her parents, can face criminal penalties as a result. Victims often respond by sending mean messages back to the bully, becoming bullies themselves. Sexting is against the law and can result in child pornography charges for the sender or senders even if they are minors. Text bullying doesn't necessarily go away. It may get passed around and it can end up where someone, like a potential boss, will see it in the future. This can harm the victim further, and can be even more damaging for the bully, who may miss out on job opportunities because of the text messages they sent.

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Bullying can take many forms but it usually includes the following types of behavior: Cyber Bullying - any type of bullying that is carried out by electronic medium. There are 7 types including: 1. Text message bullying 2. Picture/video clip bullying via mobile phone cameras 3. Phone call bullying via mobile phones 4. E-mail bullying 5. Chat-room bullying 6. Bullying through instant messaging (IM) 7. Bullying via websites

Parents can play an important role in preventing text bullying and helping teens who have been the victim of a text bully by understanding what is being said. Often coded messages that are a derivative of the English language, and representation of youth lingo are understood by those who perform sms and txt, or online chat. Online cyber bullying by text is defined as sending mean, embarrassing, untrue, or hurtful message to or about someone using cell phone text messaging. Being in written form, these messages do not go away and can escalate including being sent to more people, or even change in context to include sexually suggestive text messages known as sexting to someone or about someone. Talk to your kids about text bullying and why it is wrong. Tell them if they ever are the victim or contributors that they need to know that is wrong. They should not respond to the bullying, but instead should save it to report to a parent or teacher. If the message is sexual or threatening in nature they can report it to the police, who can easily trace it and take legal action against the bully or bullies. Text message bullying, much like online cyber bullying, is fairly new. Due to technology, youth are now able to bully others in more create ways. These bullies are no longer limited to verbal or physical bullying, but instead can carry on in virtual ways where individuals continue to read the messages over and over, having a greater (more negative) psychological impact. Given the pervasiveness of mobile phones and ubiquity of SMS text messages, mobile phones have unfortunately become the new weapon of choice for bullies and young people.