One in seven children admit to bullying others online

ONE in seven children admit to having bullied someone online – often to try to fit in, a poll reveals.

Others claim they turned to bullying to avoid becoming a target of abuse themselves.

The charity Action For Children, which commissioned the survey, said many children bully others because of problems in their own lives.

The poll, published to mark Safer Internet Day today, found 15 per cent of 2,000 youngsters aged eight to 17 questioned had bullied someone online. Of these, 59 per cent did so to fit in with a particular social group and 43 per cent wanted to prevent themselves being bullied.

Some 28 per cent admitted becoming a bully due to peer pressure and 12 per cent said they had done it because they were unhappy.

Deanna Neilson, head of child pro- tection at Action For Children said: ‘It’s shocking that online bullying is so prevalent.

‘Low self-esteem, stress at school or being victimised themselves by peers or adults are all reasons a child might act out on others.

‘It’s important for parents to ask children about the day they’ve had online, just as they ask about the day they’ve had at school.’

Separate research by the education charity Tablets For Schools reveals that half of secondary school pupils and more than a quarter of those at primary school have communicated on social media with strangers.

The survey, which questioned more than 7,000 youngsters, also found that around 70 per cent of secondary-age pupils and half of primary-age pupils take a tablet, computer or smartphone to bed with them.