One in five children cyber-bullied last year

Young girls more likely to be victims than young boys

THREE-QUARTERS of a million children aged 10 to 15 experienced cyberbullying at some point during last year. According to new data from the Office of National Statistics, one in five of that age group (19 per cent) were harassed online in the year up to March 2020.

This is the equivalent to 764,000 children.

There is no legal definition of bullying, but the ONS says it is often described as behaviour that hurts someone physically or emotionally.

Cyber-bullying is when this takes place online, and experts say that as children are spending more and more time online, more action needs to be taken to keep them safe.

Among children aged 10 to 15, one in 10 said they had been called names, sworn at or insulted online during the last year.

And one in five of those children said it happened every day or at least a few times a week.

Young girls were slightly more likely to be victims of cyber-bullying than young boys, at 20 per cent compared to 17 per cent.

Those with a disability were more likely to be subject to cyber-bullying (26 per cent) than those without one (18 per cent).

In terms of ethnicity, white children were the most likely to experience online bullying, with 21 per cent of children reporting it.

By comparison, only six per cent of Asian or Asian British children reported being cyber-bullied.

However, face-to-face bullying is still the most common type experienced, with 38 per cent of respondents reporting it compared to 19 per cent reporting cyberbullying.

Young boys were over twice as likely not to tell anyone that they were being bullied compared to young girls, at 34 per cent to 15 per cent.

Those that did not report bullying said they did so mainly because they didn't think it was that important (66 per cent).

Around seven out of 10 children (68 per cent) were emotionally affected by the cyber-bullying they experienced.

Nearly three out of four children (72 per cent) who had experienced an online bullying behaviour experienced at least some of it at school or during school time.

But only an estimated 32 per cent who experienced online bullying reported it to their teachers.

Children most commonly reported their online bullying experiences to parents (56 per cent).

CEO of anti-bullying charity Kidscape Lauren Seager-Smith said: “This research again confirms the high levels of bullying experienced by children in England and Wales, and with children spending more and more time online we have got to take action now to keep children safe.

“The research shows that it can be particularly hard for boys to share that they are being bullied, but as a charity that works with thousands of children each year to help prevent bullying and gives support to hundreds of families each year who are going through a bullying situation, we would urge anyone going through a bullying situation to get help.

“There is no shame in experiencing bullying - it can happen to any of us.

“It's also important to be aware that we are all capable of bullying behaviour - particularly online, and we need to recognise when our words and actions hurt others.

“Now more than ever, we need to encourage and support our children to be kind to others - that includes acting as role models for our children, creating a society where bullying is no longer tolerated."