Cyberbullies running rampant in pandemic

VICTORIAN students are being bullied online in record numbers during the pandemic.

Children as young as 12 are being targeted, with police warning that what kids say to each other online “can have serious consequences”.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has reported a 30 per cent surge in youth cyberbullying in 2020-21.

In one Instagram hate group, Year 7 and 8 pupils from a school in Melbourne’s southeast, posted a racist meme, shared from another Instagram account, showing an African student with the caption “ape s---”.

In another racist group message, the youths shared a photo of another African student in his school uniform, calling him the “N-word”.

A 12-year-old student, whose photo was also posted, was targeted with homophobic slurs, with the bullies saying: “Man’s not straight, you’re definitely in the closet bro.”

It is understood the Instagram account was allowed to stay up for three months before being taken down, despite several reports from other pupils about its racist and homophobic posts

In another incident, a Year 8 student at a private school in Melbourne’s east said she was “shamed” in a Snapchat hate group.

“They sent photos around of me and said I was a sl--. I did nothing wrong to them, they were my friends but then they turned on me,” she said.

“They made the group chat my name, I was really upset when I found out about it . . . It went on for six weeks and I couldn’t handle it anymore – I was on the edge.”

The girl’s parents said they reported the bullying to authorities, but were angered by the length of time it took for the posts to be taken down.

Rikki, 12, from Melbourne’s southeast, who was tormented for months, fought back by writing a letter to his bullies that he gave to his former teacher to read out to his class before leaving the school.

“One of the bullies made a YouTube video about me and they also pushed me in the schoolyard,” he said.

Rikki, now at a new school, said he offers support to others experiencing bullying.

“I know how to spot a bully and what kinds of traits a bully has,” he said.

“I’m much happier at my new school. I have really good friends. They are really supportive and take an extremely strong stance against bullying.

His mum, Ann Toscano, who runs Bent But Not Breaking, a website offering support for people experiencing bullying and help for domestic violence victims, said she was proud of Rikki’s courage.

“There is a problem with how long it takes for social media companies to remove posts,” Ms Toscano said.