BULLYING is not a new thing. Children have always found ways to torment each other.
However, while the jibes used to be contained to the school yard, today's digital climate has allowed bullying to become unrelenting.
There was once a time when bullied kids could go home and escape their peers, now we are seeing nasty messages and threats permeate the home through unrestricted computer screens.
In Tuesday's Rotorua Daily Post we reported on the new cyber safety guidelines developed to try to curb inappropriate use of digital devices.
These guidelines allow teachers to seize a student's personal device if they suspect its use has been detrimental to their wellbeing or the wellbeing of another student.
In serious cases the device can - and will - be handed over to the police. It is about time.
There will be parents who monitor their teenager's internet use, but there are also many who do not and are unaware of the content stored on private cellphones, tablets or laptops.
If these guidelines will allow a school to act on good authority and ultimately protect its students, I cannot see a downside.
The guidelines have created a clear boundary for what teachers can and cannot do so it is hard to see this as a gateway for schools to extend their authoritative hand.
Bullying is no longer a case of teachers seeing a skirmish in the school yard and handing out detentions. It is secret, it is hidden, and it is potentially more damaging to the students involved.
If these guidelines will give teachers and principals the ability to prevent cyber bullying - or at least punish it - all the power to them.