In the age of texting, Twitter and Facebook, bullying is no longer restricted to physical altercations or verbal attacks.

In recent years, cyber bullying (also known as online bullying) has become a major concern, prompting school officials and community leaders to try to confront and prevent this increasingly prevalent issue.

To help raise awareness of bullying's detrimental effects, the Coplay Town Watch group invited Ashley Campanicki, an outreach coordinator from the Crime Victims Council of the Lehigh Valley, to speak about methods for dealing with bullying-related problems.

The mission of the Town Watch is to "to help make Coplay a better, safer community," President Frank Reichl said.

Reichl and other Town Watch members believe that bettering the community involves promoting the well being of the children and teens in the area.

Doing this, according to Reichl, meant bringing attention to issues related to bullying, which have been reported more frequently given the rise in cyber bullying.

During her presentation, Campanicki defined bullying as "intentional, repeated, malicious behavior that usually gets worse over time."

Cyber bullying has run rampant because "kids can't get away from it, and it's a lot easier for the bully to do, because he or she doesn't directly see the impact that the behavior has on the victim."

The anonymity afforded by the Internet and the ability to communicate without being face-to-face with someone has made online bullying a common offense, she said.

The only way to effectively combat this, Campanicki said, is to teach children and teenagers how to be empathetic toward others so they can understand how the victim feels.

She and other members of the Lehigh Valley Crime Victims Council frequently visit schools to give presentations about bullying and Internet safety.

Their presentations always include role-playing scenarios in which students adopt the roles of "bully" and "victim."

The results have been positive, because standing in the shoes of the victim gives students a better perspective on the situation and helps them to understand the repercussions of bullying.

In addition to cyber bullying, physical and indirect bullying also remain common.

"Indirect bullying involves excluding people from a group on purpose," Campanicki said.

As a result, the victims feel alienated. This is especially harmful for teenagers whose sense of identity and acceptance are often defined by interactions with peers, she said.

Some common effects of continued bullying include a decrease in self-esteem, increased likelihood of depression, skipping school and self-inflicted harm.

Until one of these effects becomes obvious, it's sometimes difficult to find out where, when and why specific instances of bullying keep occurring, Campanicki said.

One of the biggest challenges to stopping bullying is that, too often, incidents go unreported.

This is because "the victims don't want to make the situation worse; they don't want to be seen as tattletales," Campanicki said.

By helping to raise awareness about issues surrounding bullying, members of the Coplay Town Watch hope that children and teens in their community will no longer be hesitant to speak out against hostile behavior among their peers, Reichl said.

For those who do approach adults for help, Campanicki said it's important to reinforce for the victims that they are not to blame for being bullied.

The Crime Victims Council also offers free counseling for children and teens who have a difficult time coping with being bullied.

Council members also reach out to schools and community organizations such as the Coplay Crime Watch to teach people how to effectively help bullying victims.

The Town Watch members hope that aligning their mission with that of area schools and the Crime Victims Council will help victims of bullying get the help they need and prevent future incidents from occurring.