The territory's French-language school board is preparing for action following an incident of cyberbullying where photos of students were posted on the Internet complete with belittling statements.

In an interview Friday, Lorraine Taillefer, the director of the Yukon Francophone School Board, said education authorities have brought in a psychologist to help deal with the situation. They are also preparing to hold information seminars for parents and students to highlight the severity of the incident.

The occurrence, she said, involved photos of students along with negative statements being posted on the Internet. It came to the attention of education authorities about two weeks ago.

The information posted, she said, did not involve threats, and the website has since been taken down.

'Students from Ecole Emilie-Tremblay were involved in cyberbullying. It involved other students with pictures being taken and information being put on a website,' Taillefer said.

'It came to our attention and it was dealt with at the school level where the discipline policy at the school was followed,' she said.

Because the material did not involve threats, she explained, she did not contact the Whitehorse detachment of the RCMP.

She said she could not release details as to the age nor number of students involved.

'I don't want to go into too many details because it involves students who are under the age of 18.'

Taillefer said the school board is taking the incident very seriously and has already had an educational psychologist brought in to talk to the bullies and the victims. It's also preparing to hold discussions with the student body and parents as to the implications surrounding cyberbullying.

She said the school already has policies in place to deal with the use of Internet technology at the school, including a contract students are asked to sign at the beginning of the school year.

'Bullying is an issue. It's an issue in all the schools and in our lives. It's an issue we take quite seriously.

'There's a greater effect than just saying something to someone's face. When you put it on the web, there's a greater impact, of course.'

Dr. Rina Bonanno, a specialist in education psychology with the University of British Columbia, said this morning incidents of cyberbullying are on the rise. The effects on children's mental states are 'detrimental,' leading to 'depression symtomatology' and thoughts of suicide in both perpetrators and victims.

'Even the kids who are witnessing this type of behaviour are at risk. It's also related to depression,' she said.

She said in her research of 399 students in Grades 8 through 10, she found 11 per cent of students stated they had been a cyberbully, with another 11 per cent stating they had been objects of cyberbullying tactics.

Bananno said Internet bullying poses a different challenge than traditional bullying as students may not know who is bullying them nor how to handle the situation.

'If it's happening in school, you can change schools. If it's happening on the World Wide Web, that's the Internet; it's everywhere.

'If you were being bullied on the Internet, you may not know who's doing it so it's that much more scary.'

Results from her research, Bananno added, showed that more attention needs to be paid to the threat of cyberbullying.

Cpl. Grant MacDonald, in charge of the youth and aboriginal policing section of the Whitehorse RCMP, said this morning police are aware of the cyberbullying problem.

He said they provide community education to schools on bullying and have responded to at least one cyberbullying complaint in the Whitehorse area.

'So far, it has just been the one occasion.'

MacDonald said officers are willing to go to schools to discuss the problem of bullying if invited and that parents should be aware there are several symptoms children who are being bullied may display.

Symptoms, MacDonald said, could include a lack of sleep, complaints of stomach aches or headaches and complaints of not wanting to go to school.

Other symptoms, according to the Canadian Children's Rights Council, may include: irritability, missing belongings or money, bedwetting, a break with routine, problems with school work and poor concentration.

MacDonald said some instances of cyberbullying could be considered intimidation, criminal harassment or uttering threats offences under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Youth between 12 and 18, he said, would fall under the Youth Criminal Justice Act while children under 12 could not be charged.

He said police could be called in to investigate incidents of cyberbullying if reported but there are other measures that could be taken by those affected.

Victims of cyberbullying, he added, could contact the site's Internet Service Provider (ISP) to have the offending material taken down.

'They can hold the subscriber accountable,' he said.

Northwestel Inc. spokeswoman Anne Kennedy said her company isn't responsible for what gets posted on the Internet but has options to have material taken down.

'We really aren't responsible for content on the Internet. We don't manage or control any content on the Internet.

'An ISP does have the option or can be directed to shut down a site.'

According to section 8.3.2 of Northwestel's terms of service, subscribers: ' ...agree not to ... transmit or link to any communication where the meaning of the message, or its transmission or distribution, would violate any applicable law or regulations, including those which deal with obscene communications, or its transmission is for the purpose of making an annoying or offensive communication to any other person.

Section 11.3 of the company's terms of service state that in the event a complaint is received, Northwestel will investigate and may elect at its discretion to suspend or terminate a customer's account.

'We don't need a court order or an injunction to do that,' she said.

'This only applies to our services.'

She said there is currently no written policy as to what is and is not considered offensive and that complaints are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Rick Steele, with the Yukon Technology Innovation Centre, said this afternoon it's easy to post negative material about someone on the Internet while remaining virtually anonymous.

'It's pretty darn easy to do and it can be pretty darn hard to find out who did it,' he said.

'Virtually anyone can get a web page without identification or security checks.

'If somebody decides they want to lambaste you, they can do it, and there's not really much you can do about it,' he said.

People concerned about finding negative things about themselves posted on the Internet, Steele added, should be very careful about personal photos and information they themselves post on the Internet.

Clea Ainsworth, a Department of Education spokeswoman, said this morning the offending photos were not put on the Internet using a school computer.

Ainsworth said since Yukon students have the best access to computers in the country, education officials take Internet safety very seriously.

'Our schools enjoy the highest level of connectivity in Canada. With that kind of resource comes a lot of responsibility,' she said.

According to a 2004 Statistics Canada report there is an average of one computer with access to high-speed Internet available to every 2.9 students in the territory.

The Yukon's computer availability, according to Statistics Canada, is nearly double that of the national average of 5.5 students for every one computer with high-speed Internet access.

'From the department's point of view, we want students to know how to navigate the Internet safely.

'What we'd like parents to know is students' safety is our number one concern.'

Ainsworth said her department has a number of policies in place to prevent students from misusing school-based Internet technology.