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As kids, there's somehow the fear that these bullies can end your life if they want to. Everything is blown up, and occasionally that kind of awful thing does happen.

Many kids who are bullied feel helpless. Sometimes, they think the only thing they can do is hope the problem will go away. But there are things you can do to get some control in the situation and it starts with developing a strategy and a support system.

A lot of kids are bullied because of their sexual identity or expression. It's often the effeminate boys and the masculine girls, the ones who violate gender norms and expectations, who get bullied.

Popular kids don't necessarily know who they are because they're so busy trying to conform. It's the outcasts who are more attuned to who they are. They're more self-aware, more real.

There are different types of bullying; one of the biggest ones out there right now is cyberbullying. I had the privilege of filming an 'Austin & Ally' episode centered on cyberbullying, how it can get out of control, the ups and downs that you feel, and how to deal with it.

I get cyber-bullied all of the time. Everybody has something negative to say. It is so hurtful. So I think that it is really important for kids to know how to deal with it correctly because it can be a really dangerous situation.

Just look at the messages today's media are sending everybody, from TV and commercials to actors and singers. Kids are just drowning in that 24-7 and it's getting really bad.

When I was in high school, I got bullied through social media - on the Internet, on my Facebook. That was hard for me, and I think social media has made it easy for people to bully other people on-line because they can just post anything they want anonymously.

Today, children are watching more and more television, and are bombarded over and over with images and content that have the potential to dramatically influence their behavior.

I think parenting these days is definitely different from when a lot of people grew up. As much blame as we give a lot of our kids for what they're not doing... I also try to give them as much credit for dealing with things that we didn't have to deal with. Bullying was one on one and face to face. Now it's all over the Internet.