Your parents taught you say please and thank you.  You were taught not to eat your food with your fingers and to be polite at the table.  These are just a few examples of something called etiquette, the way we should behave in public.  When you are on the Internet, there's a way you should behave also and it’s called netiquette.  If you follow proper netiquette, you won't accidentally become a cyberbully and you're less likely to run in the cyberbullies.

When you write things on the Internet, it's a lot different than when you say things face-to-face. When you say things face-to-face, you see the other persons face and no one there joking. When you type something online, the person can't see you and something you type in jest could be taken as an insult.  If it is in a private, e-mail you can usually work things out.  However if it is in a public place on the Internet, it sometimes results in angry words flying back and forth and getting out of hand.  When that happens, two people who never intended to be bullies suddenly end up as bullies. 

Here is a checklist that you can use before you send a message to make sure that it won't be misunderstood and that you are following proper netiquette.

• Make sure that it's addressed to the proper person.  Sometimes we accidentally send things to the wrong person and get ourselves in trouble.  So always check the To: line to make sure that it's going where you want to go.  Sometimes in entire family will use the same e-mail address.  So when you send a message to your friend may be read by any member the family.  You should always be aware of this kind of thing and never put things in e-mail that you wouldn't want people telling out loud others.
  

• Make sure what you are sending is worth reading. Don't send one or two word messages like Hi! or  What's up?  Don't send chain letters, junk mail, or jokes to dozens and dozens of people.  This just clogs up e-mail servers and makes life more difficult for everyone.
  

• Make sure it's true before you send it.  So many times people get really neat stories that they pass on to others and there nothing but hoaxes or other junk mail. A great place to check to see if something is true or not is snopes.com.
  

• Proofread and spell-check your e-mails.  E-mail is different than instant messaging where shortcuts and spelling mistakes are accepted.  If it’s worth sending in an e-mail, it’s worth checking to make sure that it's readable and easily understood by the person receiving it.
  

• Reread it to make sure that it says what you think it says.  Make sure that the person doesn't misunderstand what you typed.
  

• Never attacked others online.  Never make wisecracks unless you know the person very well.  If he said something that accidentally hurt someone and they tell you, don't get angry at them, apologize and explain that you didn't mean to hurt them.
  

• Be very careful when you are dealing with people from other countries.  What is perfectly acceptable here might be a terrible insult there.
  

• Never use all capital letters.  This is considered shouting.  Besides it is much harder to read when you don't use a combination of capitals and lowercase letters.
  

• Never forward someone else's e-mail to you without their permission.
  

• If you're angry when you are writing in e-mail read it over carefully and take the time to cool off before you send.
  

• If someone flames you or tries to cyberbully you, don't fight back in the same way.  Tell your parents or your teacher and let the person though that you won't stoop to their level and use angry words or insults.
  

• Never reply to spam, even to get off of a mailing list.  In most cases it won't get you off the list, because all you have done is tell the spammer that you actually read their mail Now your e-mail address will be sold others and you get even more spam.

If you want all of this in a single thought, I tell people to never put anything in e-mail that they wouldn't want to read in the newspaper on Monday morning.