(Editor’s note: This is part one in a series of articles addressing the issue of bullying among youth in Monroe County.)

The story of Missouri teen Megan Meier’s suicide dates back more than 10 years.

But to those who lived the events leading up to and following the tragedy, it’s fresh in their hearts.

Megan was just like any other girl her age who wanted to be liked.

What set her apart, though, was her continued struggle with depression, attention deficit disorder and low self-esteem. A neighbor’s comments on the social network site Myspace eventually pushed her over the edge.

Megan’s story, among others, serves as a reminder that the act of bullying can lead to severe consequences. And with the 21st century trend of cyberbullying happening to more than 25 percent of adolescents, concerns over protecting children from harassment continue to grow.

CDC.gov defines cyberbullying as occurring “through e-mail, a chat room, instant messaging, a website, text messaging, or videos or pictures posted on websites or sent through cell phones.”

“Bullying behaviors have definitely been exacerbated because of social media. Traditional solutions have to address that aspect of it,” Monroe-Randolph Regional Superintendent of Schools Kelton Davis told the Republic-Times.

Recently, the Monroe-Randolph Regional Office of Education, local schools and the Monroe County Coalition for Drug-Free Communities have worked to raise awareness to issues plaguing students such as suicide, domestic violence, eating disorders and the like.

The coalition has also discussed how the issue of bullying ties into its work.

Davis explained that — in addition to bullying no longer being isolated to schools — the online “battlefield is relentless” and that a young person is “either attacking or being attacked 24/7.” He added there is an over-reliance on social connectivity with Facebook and other social media sites.

“Everyone’s existence is both virtual and real,” he said.

And this same reliance on social media creates a new platform where Davis said bullies now have an even larger audience with which to humiliate their victims. One common reason for bullying is a kid not receiving enough attention from a parent at home, but other factors can be at play.

“This is not a simple issue. It’s like truancy or anything else. What is the source of the problem?” Davis said. “What is taking place in the background of the (bully’s) life.”

He added, “There are two things we need to do in these situations. One is to figure out ‘Why is the person bullying?’ And the other is, ‘What are we going to do to help both parties?’”

Davis said the ROE raises awareness about bullying by bringing in prevention speakers to visit the local schools. He also referred to schools providing younger kids with social and emotional support and utilizing character education.

“We try to encourage our students to have great character and realize that no one deserves to be bullied,” said Nathan McSchooler, Valmeyer High School dean of students.

But if bullying does occur in the schools, Valmeyer, Columbia and Waterloo school districts each use anonymous reporting links on their websites to allow students’ reporting to remain confidential.

“At Columbia High School, we encourage students to come to us and report bullying by letting them know that we will stand up for them and do something about it,” Columbia High School guidance counselor Ericka Echelbarger said.

Waterloo school superintendent Brian Charron added that the link acknowledges the difficult situations some students find themselves in with their peers.

“Rather than doing nothing, they get to (use the district’s Tell Someone link). This offers them comfort that the right people can get involved,” he said.

Students can also report bullying in person to the schools’ guidance counselors or administration. In addition to the link, Valmeyer allows students to contact its bullying hotline at 618-935-2100, ext. 450 for K-8 and ext. 204 for high school.

Students can report incidents of cyberbullying that occur with school technology as the districts have policies to address this. But administration cannot discipline students for bullying that happens outside of the schools unless the incident interferes with student learning or creates a hostile environment at school, Charron said.

The school districts also note in their policies that “name-calling, using derogatory slurs, stalking, sexual violence, causing psychological harm, threatening or causing physical harm, threatened or actual destruction of property, or wearing or possessing items depicting or implying hatred or prejudice” toward any individual constitutes bullying.

Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, loneliness, fear and other mental health issues. But more than half of these kids never report the harassment to an adult.

“I’m going to go to (suicide prevention speaker Kevin Brooks’ statement) that ‘It is OK to not be OK,’” Davis said. “The thing you can’t do is wait until it has festered for so long.”