By Keith Howard

Schoolyard bullies have graduated-to the internet. And unlike most playground scuffles, these rotten-apples can inflict permanent scars.

‚ÄúSome kids carry weapons to school after being victimized online because they’re scared or worried. It’s a tough issue and everyone is grappling with it,‚Äù said Brian Cavanaugh, deputy director of Middlesex Partnerships for Youth Inc.

During his presentation at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park Thursday, Cavanaugh warned 30 parents, students and teachers about the rising phenomenon of cyber bullying.

‚ÄúWhen I’m online I can’t see the person’s face,‚Äù said Cavanaugh, ‚Äúit’s a pretty scary thing.‚Äù

Cavanaugh cited evidence from Pew Internet and American Life Project, a non-profit research group, which reported 32 percent of all teenagers who use the internet say they have been targets of a range of annoying and potentially menacing online activities.

This includes “threatening messages; having their private emails or text messages forwarded without consent; having an embarrassing picture posted without permission; or having rumors about them spread online,” according to the 2007 report.

Pew research shows the most common online bullying experience is having someone take a private email, instant message or text message and forwarding it on to someone else or posting the communication publicly. Almost 15 percent of teens said they had experienced this type of bullying, according to the research.

Bullies can also use social networking cites like myspace, facebook and xanga to send threatening messages and expose their victims to public humiliation.

MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., said it has more than 110 million active users worldwide, and Facebook claims more than 61 million active users.

‚ÄúMyspace is good with us. But when it’s completely anonymous and we’re counting on getting an address from Comcast its very difficult [to catch troublemakers],‚Äù said Somerville Police Officer Mike Kennelly.

If cyber bullying does happen, Kennelly advises parents to keep careful records as evidence. ‚ÄúSave the copy of the whole [conversation] that’s been sent and then show it to us.‚Äù Kennelly said ambiguous messages that read: ‘I hope you don’t regret what you said yesterday,’ are difficult to take into court.

Both Kennelly and Cavanaugh agree that parents can play a pivotal role in preventing harm to their children over the web.

‚ÄúI’m just your average interested parent and someone who doesn’t know enough about computers as my son is likely too,‚Äù said John Schneider, a volunteer at the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences and a stay-at-home dad.

Along with his wife, Schneider said he’s raising a nine-year-old son who knows more about the online world than they do. ‚ÄúWe have internet access at home. We don’t know enough about parental controls. He’s good about it, but we worry a little.‚Äù

‚ÄúThe whole thing makes me edgy. There’s easy access to the internet and pictures of my children,‚Äù said Melissa McWhinney, the parent of 13-year-old Ruth and 16-year-old Sophie Grossman. She said she worries about the intentions of people using the internet.

Ward 2 School Committee member Teresa Cardoso said she hopes everyone took something from the meeting to learn better methods of protecting their kids. ‚ÄúI’m sure that they [Internet bullies and predators] exist because it’s everywhere. I can’t imagine we haven’t been touched here in Somerville,‚Äù she said.

Frank DiChiappari, who handles student services in the city, said he received a report of online bullying just last week. For privacy reasons, he could not discuss details of the incident but said the problem is rooted in a particular age group.

‚ÄúMiddle school is the most dangerous,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúWe seem to have the majority of complaints coming from this grade. The frustrating thing is when it happens at home. We can monitor things in school departments, but we can’t monitor things people are doing at home.‚Äù