They didn't like him, the 14 year-olds wrote on the social networking site Facebook, because he always has to be right.

Or, they wrote on a Facebook "group" dedicated to hating their fellow Montgomery County high school student, because he's a Jew.

"I felt terrified," said the student, who told a House of Delegates committee about his experience yesterday. "I felt like I lived in an unsafe world."

His parents, who asked The Sun not to identify him for fear of retribution, said they notified Montgomery County police about the incident and that the Facebook group was quickly removed. Administrators at their son's school were slow to react and said they had no jurisdiction to punish the "cyber-bullies," the parents said.

The high school freshman was greeted with an unusual round of applause from the delegates on the Ways and Means Committee, who considered bills on all kinds of bullying yesterday, including measures that would allow schools to penalize students for such Internet teasing. They also considered a measure to create positions for school officials who would arbitrate bullying complaints.

"Bullying is a very toxic form of abuse," said Dr. Jorge Srabstein, an associate professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine who specializes in children's issues. "It occurs not only in schools but over the Internet and cellular phones, in the neighborhood ... as hazing among young adults in college and lastly, among adults in the workplace."

Advocates, parents and victims said they want legislation to combat the problem, stiffer penalties for bullies and more accountability from school systems.

Nearly every member of the committee who spoke supported the bills, so much so that many grilled a lonely opponent of the measure.

John R. Woolums, director of governmental relations for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, said many school systems have policies to combat bullying and that the State Board of Education has worked on regulations.

"This would direct the state to direct us what the best of us are doing already," he said, adding later that 13 year-old bullies "are not going to read any bill you pass."

Del. Jay Walker, a Prince George's County Democrat, said he was surprised that anyone would oppose the bills. If anything, he said, he thought the committee might amend the proposed legislation "to put a little bit more bite into it."

bradley.olson@baltsun.com