WASHINGTON -- Bullying used to be confrontations, starting
rumors and making snide comments in person. Now it's as easy as
posting a comment on Facebook or tweeting anonymously about a
classmate. As educators and administrators prepare for another
school year, they're also getting ready to take a new stance
against cyberbullying. In Texas, for example, a law comes into
effect this school year that requires schools to have policies
for dealing with cyberbullying that occurs on school property or
at school events. In Kansas, the education department launched a
new anti-bullying hot line last week to supplement a 2008 law
that mandates that schools have cyberbullying policies. Beyond
that, 11 states are reviewing proposals to update or implement
cyberbullying laws. All are attempts to bring the state's
approaches to bullying into the 21st century. "For many people
of a certain age, the word bullying tends to conjure up an image
of a schoolyard skirmish, but in 2012 that's not what bullying
is at all," said Chuck