Online bullying exposes children to dangers beyond the schoolyard.

ANALYSIS: Cyberbullying happens in unsupervised spaces where normal social rules are suspended

THE TRAGIC death by suicide of 13-year-old Erin Gallagher in Donegal last weekend forces us, yet again, to question how we manage the complex issue of cyberbullying.

Bullying is fundamentally about exerting power and control and there will always be young people who want to deliberately hurt others because of their own personal unhappiness, jealousy or low self-esteem.

Research shows that boys tend to be more overtly physical in their bullying, whereas girls use more emotional and psychological bullying: snide comments, exclusion, undermining, etc…