lifestyle

The college student said she walked the rest of the way home that first night her ex texted her with the uncomfortable feeling he might be crouched in the bushes, even though she knew he lived several states away.

The texts and e-mails kept coming for more than a year and ranged from innocuous appeals for contact to disturbing insinuations of violence. The contact stopped in December, when the man messaged her that he had found someone else.

Customers who do feel threatened are advised to call law enforcers, who can then contact the provider to identify the sender.

A Web site sponsored by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Ad Council and Office of Violence Against Women offers a textual harassment forum where teenagers trade advice and experiences with overzealous or unwanted texting.

The site, http://www.thatsnotcool.com, also has e-mailable reply "callout cards" that offer a lighter approach to resolve what could be a serious problem, with messages including "You're much more attractive when you're not textually harassing me," and "Thanks for helping me exceed my text message limit."