Picture a bully and you may imagine that kid who stole your lunch box in the third grade, but it’s important to remember that overt harassment and intimidation are not isolated to elementary and secondary schools.

Severe cases of bullying like the case of Tyler Clementi, who was harassed for being gay and eventually committed suicide, happened while he was a freshman at Rutgers University.

The death of Clementi and other teenagers in recent months resulted from harassment of their sexual orientation, but becoming a target can be for various reasons, or in some cases, for seemingly no reason at all.

Wendy Huang, a senior majoring in financial economics, said she experienced bullying during her freshmen year of college.

‘One particular person I knew back then for some reason did not like me,’ Huang said. ‘I went through everything from being verbally abused to being completely ignored by this person, to the point where I began to feel as if it was somehow my fault.’

In hindsight, Huang now realizes that her bully’s antagonism toward her came from petty reasons and has gotten over the emotional damage.

At Binghamton University, the Counseling Center is there to help any student deal with life issues they are unable to handle on their own. Individual appointments are offered, as well as group psychotherapy sessions for those who want to connect with other students who might be facing the same dilemma they are.

Beth Riley, senior counselor and coordinator of sexual assault programs, said that bullying and its traumatic ramifications can be belittled, or victims may not acknowledge that they are being harassed and seek assistance.

‘It’s a health issue, and unfortunately many college students just leave the campus to get away from it,’ Riley said.

Keep in mind that there are many different types of bullying ‘ some types have been around for decades, such as stalking, and others serve as a most recent manifestation, such as cyberbullying.

According to Riley, a survey conducted in 2008 about cases of harassment on campus, 27.5 percent of students said that they were victims of stalking behavior.

There are laws out there that can address these kinds of victims, but, as Riley explained, the very nature of bullying and especially cyberbullying, makes everything ‘so rampant and very difficult to catch people.’

As a result, students end up feeling helpless and become discouraged from seeking help.

Counselors including Riley have assisted in the development of Voices Against Violence, a project that acts as a precautionary measure to educate students about issues ranging from bullying and stalking to sexual assault.

For those who have been bullied, Riley finds that the victim is often left feeling powerless.

‘That’s why we have counseling, and any student who feels unsafe can come by and ask somebody to help them form a safety plan or become educated about the laws,’ she said.

Bullying today is viewed as a more vicious kind, with kids being picked on in ways never experienced or contemplated by their parents.

Dr. Mary Muscari, an associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing, has written several articles on cyberbullying, stalking, sexting and violence among adolescents.

To address cyberbullying, Muscari said that parents need to ‘get a better understanding of how young people view the Internet. As older adults we see the Internet as something different, but it’s just a different medium for the same behavior.’

Muscari said that reducing bullying should not be left to only a few people.

‘Everybody needs to be involved. If people are not doing anything to stop it, then they are just as guilty,’ Muscari said.