Children head back to school this week and for a few students who are being bullied it is a time of dread.
But bullies not only torment people at school they also do it on the internet - a growing problem that has forced two West Coast teenagers to move school.
For many teenagers the internet is now the place for social interaction but like any playground it has its bullies. Samantha Bicham has felt the full effects.
"It can really hurt you. It makes you think things about yourself like you've done something wrong and you blame yourself for it and you carry a big load in you," Bicham says.
The 15-year-old was being cyber-bullied by Greymouth schoolmates who posted abusive material about her on the website bebo. She says they admitted to her that they were responsible.
Police say there is often not a lot they can do because by the time complaints reach them evidence has been wiped off the net.
Greymouth Constable Rose Green says at this stage the perpetrators cannot be prosecuted but they are seeking advice from their legal section to see what they can do if the offending becomes more prolific or "more heinous".
Meanwhile Bicham cannot bear to go back to her school.
"I would never bully anyone," she says. "I can't stand to do that to people."
And she says what she hates most about the situation is that she does not know why she was bullied.
Her former school principal admits the problem is hard to deal with.
"Any bullying that originates outside school is very difficult to deal with, the web blogs they are impossible for the school to deal with," says Greymouth High principal Arthur Graves.
But an internet education company that deals with hundreds of
bullying complaints says bullying is bullying no matter where it
happens.
Netsafe executive director Martin Cocker says cyber bullying is
the same as other forms of bullying and that is how the school
should deal with it.
Phillipa Leach, the mother of a victim, believes technology has given youngsters a loaded gun as far as bullying goes. She says to be bullied or be one of the bullies is not a choice a child should have to make.
Her daughter Sarah is another leaving Greymouth High School to get away from name calling.
"I couldn't understand properly why people turned on me all of a sudden...I just felt like there was no point in living because you go to school for eight hours and I got bullied for that eight hours in school."
Netsafe says cyber bullying appears to be on the increase and they are working to find out just how bad it really is.
"This type of bullying done via websites is rising very dramatically. What we want to do is talk to the other agencies that help young people and see whether they're seeing the same sorts of things," says Cocker.
One Australian survey found more than 40% of Australian teens have experienced cyber bullying.
In New Zealand police say parents can help by becoming more aware of what their teens are up to online.
