By Rachel Menendez

The ABC Family original movie Cyberbully will shine a light on the important 21^st century issue of cyberbullying that so many kids now experience when it premieres on July 17.

The two hour original movie will showcase on ABC Family at 8:00pm ET. The movie is part of an initiative in partnership with Seventeen Magazine to put an end to bullying and “Delete Digital Drama.”

Online fun and games turn sour when a teenage girl is digitally harassed in the two-hour ABC Family original movie, Cyberbully, starring Emily Osment (Hannah Montana), Kelly Rowan (The OC) and Kay Panabaker (No Ordinary Family).

Cyberbully is being presented as part of a campaign by ABC Family and Seventeen magazine to bring awareness to the youth issue of digital abuse and bullying. The initiative, Delete Digital Drama, will launch this summer on the network and in the magazine’s August 2011 issue.

Cyberbully follows Taylor Hillridge (Osment), a teenage girl who falls victim to online bullying and the cost it takes on her as well as her friends and family. Taylor is a pretty 17-year-old student dealing with her parents’ recent divorce and painfully aware of her lower social status in high school. When her mom gives her a computer for her birthday, Taylor is excited by the prospect of going online to meet new friends without her mother always looking over her shoulder. However Taylor soon finds herself the victim of betrayal and bullying while visiting a popular social website. Obsessed with the damaging posts, she begins to withdraw from her family and friends, including her life-long best friend, Samantha Caldone (Panabaker).

Tormented and afraid to face her peers at school, Taylor is pushed to a breaking point. It is only after this life-changing event that Taylor learns that she is not alone – meeting other teens, including a classmate, who has had similar experiences. Taylor’s mom, Kris (Rowan), reels from the incident and takes on the school system and state legislation to help prevent others from going through the same harrowing ordeal.

The network will debut a PSA during Cyberbully featuring star Emily Osment. In the public service announcement, Osment will direct viewers to StompoutBullying.org, providing a direct resource for viewers and readers to reach out for help, if necessary. For those who are in need of immediate help/assistance, they can go to the website or call the Stomp Out Bullying hotline at 855-790-HELP.

Contact the Author: RachelMenendez@MoviesIDidntGet.com