On the evening of September 22, 2010, Rutgers University freshman, Tyler Clementi, updated his Facebook status, jumping off the GW bridge. Sorry. According to Lisa Foderaro's report in The New York Times, a few hours later, Clementi did just that. But what would cause a bright student and talented musician with a promising future to take his own life? A bully with a webcam.

According to a May 21, 2012, report on CNN, Clementi's roommate was sentenced to 30 days in jail, three years of probation, 300 hours of community service, and $11,000 in restitution for the use of a webcam to view and transmit images of Clementi in an intimate encounter with another young man. Tyler Clementi's story is tragic, but it's not an isolated event. On September 9, 2013, 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick jumped to her death after allegedly being tormented by two girls on Facebook. A few months earlier, Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old Canadian high school student, hanged herself after cellphone pictures of her being sexually assaulted were distributed by the alleged attackers.

What is going on here? In a word, it's cyberbullying. My name is Elijah, and I'm here today to confront the growing problem of electronic harassment experienced by Tyler Clementi and so many others.

I'll start with a look at the various forms cyberbullying takes and describe the scope of the problem. But I'm not here just to talk about one more social ill. I want to show you how you and your loved ones can stay safe, both by scrupulously guarding your personal information and by actively thwarting cyberbullies. Finally, should you or someone you know become a victim, I want you to be able to respond constructively.

As you can imagine from the heartbreaking story I shared about Tyler Clementi, cyberbullying poses serious mental health risks to the nation's children, teens, and young adults. The Cyberbullying Research Center, a leading resource on the topic, defines cyberbullying as willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cellphones, and other electronic devices. Cyberbullying can take many forms, including posting or sending harassing messages via websites, blogs, or text messages, posting embarrassing or private photos of someone online without their permission, recording or videotaping someone and sharing it without permission, and creating fake websites or social networking profiles in someone else's name to humiliate them. These acts are often done anonymously.

Recent research paints a chilling picture of the frequency and harm of electronic harassment. According to Hani Morgan, an education professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, statistics vary widely. But a 2011 report by the National Crime Prevention Council found that 43 percent of teens had been victims of cyberbullying in the last year.

Although most of the research to date has focused on cyberbullying among middle and high school students, a 2012 study published by the Journal of School Violence confirmed that the problem of electronic harassment continues into college. Psychologists Allison Schenk and William Fremouw found that nearly 9 percent of university students had experienced cyberbullying. That means that at least two or three people listening to this speech know what I'm describing because they've felt it.

As we have seen with Tyler, Rebecca, Rehtaeh, and too many others, cyberbullying has tragically cut short promising lives. But consequences less traumatic than suicide take a serious toll on cyberbullying's victims. The same study by Schenk and Fremouw reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as difficulty concentrating, among bullied college students. As Professor Morgan explains, the anonymity of unsigned messages and fake user names marks cyberbullying as a dangerous evolution of a long-standing face-to-face bullying problem. But you can take steps to protect yourself.

For one, you can be vigilant about safeguarding your personal information. Our school's information technology office lists the following advice on its website. First, never ever leave your laptops unattended. Second, keep your account passwords and social security numbers completely private. Third, use the most secure privacy settings on your social networking sites. Finally, think carefully about the types of pictures of yourself and your friends that you post online and restrict views of them to friends only. Each of these steps can minimize opportunities for bullies to harm or embarrass you in some way.

In addition to zealously guarding your personal information, you can help combat cyberbullying by being a voice against it whenever you see it happening. Several organizations have websites that provide information you can use to be part of the solution. The Facebook group, Don't Stand By, Stand Up, is a student-led organization formed soon after Tyler Clementi's suicide. The group urges internet users to take a stand against cyberbullying by recognizing that bullies in any form rarely succeed in their harassment without the support and attention of bystanders.

The National Crime Prevention Council website gives specific tips on how to thwart a bullies attempts. The first is to refuse to pass bullying messages along to others, whether by text or photo messaging, social networking, or email, and to let the original sender know that you find the message offensive or stupid. Despite your best efforts to keep your personal information private and to speak out against cyberbullying, you may still become a victim.

Online safety expert Parry Aftab's website, stopcyberbullying.org, advises victims to use the stop, block, and tell method to respond to bullying behavior directed against them. Although often taught to younger children, this response makes sense in any case of cyberbullying. If you receive a bullying message, first stop. In other words, do nothing. Take five minutes to cool down. Take a walk, breathe deeply, or do whatever will help to calm the understandable anger you are feeling.

Then, block. Prevent the cyberbully from having any future communication with you. This may involve anything from removing him or her from your social networking site's friends list to having your cell phone service provider block the bully from being able to call or text you.

The third step is to tell someone about the abuse without embarrassment or shame. For example, you might call campus security or confide in a counselor at the health and counseling center, particularly if the abuse has been going on for a long time and you feel that your self-esteem or relationships have been affected. Similarly, parents with younger children should encourage their children to report any bullying to a trusted adult.

Today we ventured into the very real, very dangerous world of cyberbullying. We've seen cyberbullying's negative effects on people of all ages. We've also seen how you can counter this potentially deadly problem by being vigilant about protecting your personal information and by speaking out against cyberbullying.

If you or someone you know experiences cyberbullying, you can respond constructively using the stop, block, and tell method. Cyberbullying isn't just someone else's problem. It's very likely something you need to guard against, now or in the future, as a student today or as a parent tomorrow.

I urge each of you to make a personal commitment to do your part to combat this problem. Refuse to stay silent in the face of cyberbullying. Resolve that you will never send or pass along cyberbullying messages of any kind, no matter how harmless doing so might seem. This act alone can make a world of difference in the life of the intended victim. And wouldn't you want someone to take this simple step for you?

We must never forget Tyler Clementi and the other young lives cut short by unnecessary bullying. Who knows? Your best friend, your younger brother, or your son could just as easily have been on that bridge that fateful September evening.