A new report by the World Health Organization has just revealed that cyberbullying among school age children increased during the pandemic as well as in its aftermath. Around 17% of the 37,000 youths surveyed in Wales said that they experienced bullying, and overall the survey involved just under 280,000 children, or 279,000 to be precise. These survey respondents hailed from 44 different countries around the world.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 12% of boys experienced bullying in 2018, and this number has now risen to 15%. As for girls, the proportion rose from 13% to 16%. The number was even higher in England, with 19% reporting experiencing bullying in some way, shape or form online. This proportion represented the number that had been bullied within the past two months.
It bears mentioning that 11% also acknowledged that they had cyber bullied someone else in that time period with all things having been considered and taken into account. Over in Scotland, the same percentage reported bullying others online, whereas the ones that experienced bullying was at the 18% mark.
Cyber bullying is a serious concern because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up seriously harming the mental health and wellbeing of children. As a result of the fact that this is the case, studies like these are an essential component of the process by which the matter at hand can be fully understood in its entirety.
More work must be done to educate young people about why cyberbullying is something that they shouldn't be taking part in. The pandemic likely drove this trend due to the reason that children were cooped up at home during lockdowns and didn’t really have anywhere that they could go. With screen time frequently hitting six hours per day and the relative anonymity that comes with online interaction, an increase in cyber bullying appears to be something that’s rather inevitable. At the end of the day, it’s something that needs change all in all.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Cloudflare Blocked 9.3 Million Emails Every Day in 2023
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 12% of boys experienced bullying in 2018, and this number has now risen to 15%. As for girls, the proportion rose from 13% to 16%. The number was even higher in England, with 19% reporting experiencing bullying in some way, shape or form online. This proportion represented the number that had been bullied within the past two months.
It bears mentioning that 11% also acknowledged that they had cyber bullied someone else in that time period with all things having been considered and taken into account. Over in Scotland, the same percentage reported bullying others online, whereas the ones that experienced bullying was at the 18% mark.
Cyber bullying is a serious concern because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up seriously harming the mental health and wellbeing of children. As a result of the fact that this is the case, studies like these are an essential component of the process by which the matter at hand can be fully understood in its entirety.
More work must be done to educate young people about why cyberbullying is something that they shouldn't be taking part in. The pandemic likely drove this trend due to the reason that children were cooped up at home during lockdowns and didn’t really have anywhere that they could go. With screen time frequently hitting six hours per day and the relative anonymity that comes with online interaction, an increase in cyber bullying appears to be something that’s rather inevitable. At the end of the day, it’s something that needs change all in all.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Cloudflare Blocked 9.3 Million Emails Every Day in 2023
