One in six adolescents have experienced cyberbullying
Nearly one in six adolescents have experienced cyberbullying, an international study has found.
More school-aged children have reported being cyberbullied compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.
A study, which looked at bullying among adolescents from 44 countries and regions, including England, Wales and Scotland, found 15 per cent reported being cyberbullied at least once or twice in the past couple of months.
The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, of more than 279,000 people aged 11, 13 and 15 years old in 2021/22, suggests the proportion of adolescents who reported being cyberbullied has increased since 2018, from 12 per cent to 15 per cent for boys and 13 per cent to 16 per cent for girls.
On average, across all the participating countries and regions in Europe, central Asia and Canada, around one in eight (12 per cent) adolescents reported cyberbullying others at least once or twice in the past couple of months.
In England, where more than 4200 young people were surveyed, nearly one in five (19 per cent) reported being cyberbullied at least once or twice in the past couple of months, and 11 per cent reported cyberbullying others.
In Scotland, where more than 4300 young people were surveyed, 18 per cent said they had experienced cyberbullying and 11 per cent reported cyberbullying others.
Meanwhile, in Wales, where nearly 37,000 young people were surveyed, 17 per cent reported cyberbullying and 9 per cent reported cyberbullying others.
The report said there was an "urgent need" to educate young people, families and schools of the forms of cyberbullying and its implications as it is now a "dominant form of peer violence" among young people.
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said: "As young people's social engagement switched to the online environment during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, so it appears that perpetration and experience of cyberbullying increased.
"Focusing on virtual types of peer violence is now an urgent priority to safeguard the health and wellbeing of populations of adolescents and young people, and cyberbullying must be viewed as a major issue for societies."