One in four cyberbullied

Online abuse of our kids soars

ALMOST one in four Aussie kids has suffered cyberbullying, giving Australia the second highest rate of online abuse against children in the world, according to a new study.

And there are concerns not all parents are aware their children are at risk, with a “gap” between those being bullied and the parents who know about it.

Release of the report comes a day before Do It For Dolly Day, an annual event to highlight the risks of online bullying following the death of Dolly Everett in 2018.

The study from McAfee, which surveyed 15,500 parents and 12,057 children across 10 countries, found 24 per cent of Australian children reported suffering bullying online.

The figure was significantly higher than the global average of 17 per cent, and placed Australia only behind the US for cyber-bullying incidents worldwide. The report also found only 20 per cent of parents were aware their children had been exposed to online bullying, even though twothirds of Australian parents said they were concerned about the risks of their children using social media.

McAfee cyber safety ambassador Alex MertonMcCann said the report’s “overwhelming” findings should be a “wake-up call” to Australian parents, educators and regulators.

The rate of cyber-bullying in Australia was fuelled by more children being online and using social media, Ms Merton-McCann said.

“We are giving kids phones earlier than we ever have — there are studies showing kids have phones in their pockets from the age of seven — and we have kids on social media at ages that are completely inappropriate,” she said. “So we’ve got tiny people who have limited life experiences living in this really big adult world without protections in place.”

Dolly’s Dream spokeswoman Jessie Mitchell called the study’s findings “concerning” but said she hoped the high number of reports indicated bullying was losing its stigma.

“In Australia over the last couple of years we’ve been having clearer conversations about cyber-bullying and the importance of speaking up,” Ms Mitchell said.

“We’ve also got some quite stringent regulations under the Online Safety Act but these are not always widely understood.”

Ms Merton-McCann said parents should also ensure children felt comfortable talking about bullying without fear of having technology taken away and, in the case of an incident, knew to screenshot messages, approach the school for help, or report bullying to the eSafety Commission.

For help with emotional difficulties, contact Lifeline on 131 114 or lifeline.org.au, or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.