What can start as innocent banter on a social network site can quickly become dangerous.

Nebraska State Trooper Chuck Elley says at a Panhandle high school this very situation came about.

Elley says it began with students from rival high schools putting each other down on a social networking site, sites like Facebook and Myspace.The bantering of school pride soon turned dangerous when threats of bodily harm began being issued. By the time the State Patrol was brought in a gun fight had been planned on a Friday and Saturday night.

This was the point State Patrol was notified and they shut it down, Elley says.

Elley has been with the State Patrol for 24 years. For the last six years he has been giving educational seminars regarding internet safety. He was in Kimball on Wednesday, March 9, giving a program hosted by the Chamber of commerce during the chamber’s monthly coffee about internet safety.

Elley says this is a case of cyberbullying. Cyberbulling is bullying that takes place on cellphones, internet sites, PDAs and other electronic products.

He explained what could be considered cyberbullying as spreading rumors and gossip, posting pictures without permission, stealing passwords to assume someone else’s identity, and harassing using mean and hurtful language.

Of the people who commit these acts of bullying Elley says, “These people are cowards, they will not say these things face-to-face.”

These types of actions may be considered funny to one person yet extremely hurtful to another.

If the bullying escalates to threats of physical violence, law enforcement may become involved.

Elley says State Patrol can get court ordered subpoenas to help them build a case against an alleged bully.  He said they can subpoena a  cell phone provider to give law enforcement all texts, numbers dialed and pictures sent from a cell phone for an extended period of time.

“A lot of students don’t know that,” Elley says.

Elley says another aspect of cyberbullying  is sexting.

Elley classified sexting as the sending of nude or partially nude photos or videos by someone younger than 18 years old.

“It is considered possessing and distributing child pornography,” Elley says.

Elley says this includes an person under the age of 18 sending these types of pictures to their boyfriend of girlfriend.

This also includes adults sending these types of things of children (those younger than 18) to other adults or children.

“Doing this is a felon,” Elley says.

Still with all the dangers lurking, Elley wasn’t down on the technology.

“Technology is a wonderful tool as long as you respect it,” Elley says.

If you feel like you are the victim of cyberbullying Elley recommends the following:

Do not respond, save the evidence, tell an adult you can trust.

“If you feel threatened or that you are in immediate danger, contact you local law enforcement agency right away,” Elley says.

At the state level, Nebraska state Sen. Lavon Heideman is supporting Legislative Bill 123. This bill would allow schools to discipline students acting in cyberbulling if it is disrupting the school environment or threatening staff or students.

According to an article on www.omaha.com the Senator said he would have been leery of supporting this bill a year ago but a case of cyberbullying has affected one of his constituents.

In this case a teacher was targeted by a slander campaign by a group of male students on Facebook.

The teacher was upset the school took no action against the students despite her complaints and police reports.

At this time nothing has happened with the bill.

To learn more about cyberbullying and how to keep your children safe, log onto www.NetSmartzKids.org