Abstract
Technological advances have shifted bullying from traditional face-to-face bullying to harassment through the use of electronics (cyber bullying). With cyber bullying, the main source of connection between a bully and their victim has moved to electronic devices that are generally used off of school grounds. Parents need to be aware of cyber bullying and have tools to help if it becomes an issue for their child. This study aimed to find if parents are aware of the cyber bullying issue and what resources they are aware of to help with the issue. A survey instrument designed for this current study by the researcher based on an instrument used by Strom and Strom (2005) was distributed to parents of 8th graders in two middle schools in Northern California. Sixty-two parents returned the survey via mail. The majority of parents had not accessed cyber safety information (51.6%). The majority of parents reported using rules for online activity to control their child’s Internet time (62.9%). Fathers were significantly more likely to see cyber bullying as less damaging then face-to-face bullying than mothers.