Jane Magazine published a story about online stalking meant for its twentysomething audience, but I think the sidebar tips are great for parents, too. Whether it's a stranger/stalker or even if a teen is being stalked by an ex-boyfriend, girlfriend or friends, do the following to prevent stalking and deal with it if it happens to you:

1. Don't post your last name, email address, phone number, schedule, company name [school name for teens] or neighborhood either.

2. Look over your profiles and make sure nothing reads like a schedule of where to find you...

3. Use the privacy settings on MySpace and Facebook -- they each offer all sorts of safety features, like blocking people from copying your photos or blocking anyone without a last name or without an email address attached to their account.

4. Keep your IM "away" message vague...don't tell them exactly where you are when you're "away."

If you are a victim of stalking:

1. Don't respond to your stalker. Michelle Garcia of the Stalking Resource Center says, "If he calls 24 times and you answer on the 25th time and say, 'Stop calling me,' what it says to him is, 'It's going to take 25 phone calls to hear her voice."

2. Call someone [for teens, tell their parents, but they can also call these hotlines]. A victim advocates association like the Stalking Resource Center (800-FYI-CALL) or Safe Horizon can help you assess the threat and explain your legal options.

3. Use your sixth sense, if you don't feel safe call the police [or tell your parents]

4. Document harassment. Print out emails. Take photos of texts. Record phone messages. Keep gifts or letters that are sent to you. All of this will help paint a picture for the police of what's freaking you out.

5. Trace anonymous messages. If you're getting emails from an anonymous source, it's possible to trace the IP address to a specific computer server...teens or their parents can report the online stalker to your internet service provider.

The Stalking Resource Center has this great article on what's different about teen stalking and these suggested interventions:

Effective Interventions

While interventions may be difficult to implement, protecting teen victims is crucial. So the question then becomes: how does one intervene? What interventions are most effective?

Because stalking behavior is unlikely to "just stop" on its own and because all stalkers have to be considered potentially dangerous, it is important for parents, educators, service providers, and criminal justice system practitioners to understand the scope of the problem and have strategies to address it:

- Reporting: Teens must be encouraged to report the crime, and adults must learn to respond appropriately when they do.

- Avoid victim blaming: Adults should avoid blaming teens for being victimized or doubting their accounts of their experiences. Fear that parents will adopt an "I told you so" attitude when they learn about the stalking prevents many teens from revealing the problem to adults. So when a teen takes the initiative to report an incident, the person receiving and investigating the matter must take it seriously, be honest, and remain open-minded. If the matter reaches the juvenile or criminal justice system, the sanctions imposed should be designed to send the message that stalking is a crime and will not be tolerated.

- Revise state stalking statutes: Ultimately, stalking statutes and protective order statutes should be examined and modified, if necessary, to encompass stalking behaviors that are prevalent among teens while taking into account that teens do not respond to crime and victimization as adults do.