Teachers aren't innocent, either, he said -- it's more common for a teacher to humiliate or bully a student than the other way around. When students feel disrespected by a teacher, they'll start to challenge them and eventually, they'll make it personal, Bond said.

Mutual respect is key, he said.

"It's tough to take control of 30, 35 teenagers with their hormones raging and all their opinions," Bond said. "The key to surviving is having peers you can go to and help you master your craft."

Tynes, now an associate professor of educational psychology and psychology at the University of Southern California, said being cyberbullied in 2007 left her stressed and anxious. Tynes said a mentor helped her to report the incident, and the student who created the Facebook event was required to complete diversity training.

"People were incredibly supportive," she said.

Tynes said she has learned from experience that opening the lines of communication between teachers and students' parents can prevent teacher victimization by students -- and by their parents. The 2011 study found that 37 percent of teachers who reported they'd been victimized felt that way because of a student's parent.

Keeping pupils engaged will also prevent an imbalance of power between teacher and student, she said. When a teacher constantly hands out work sheets and offers little support, she added, it can make students feel like the teacher doesn't care, and that's when they disconnect.

The cyberbullying experience fueled a desire to understand better how bullying affects young people. Through her research, she's found that young victims of cyberbullying often experience depressive symptoms and anxiety, just as she did once.

Despite the struggles, there's no better time than now to be a teacher, she said.

"We have so many technological tools and new media at our disposal," she said. "We can really enhance and promote learning in more ways than we could in the past."