By Janaki Mahadevan Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Children must be taught how to recognise harassment online, academics at the University of Bedfordshire have warned.
To mark Safer Internet Day researchers at the university have called for improved awareness of cyberbullying and its impact on victims.
The National Centre for Cyberstalking Research (NCCR) at the university argued that children need to be taught to recognise cyber-harassment and learn how to use electronic communication responsibly.
NCCR co-director Professor Carsten Maple said: "The internet is still a new communication medium and everyone needs to learn how to use it properly, especially children – they don’t always know what is inappropriate.
"We need to train them so they recognise when they are causing harm or when they have gone too far."
The calls come as charity commissioned by the Nominet Trust.
The Virtual Violence II report revealed that of the 4,605 children aged 11 to 16 surveyed, 20 per cent said the fear of cyberbullies made them reluctant to go to school and 14 per cent said they lived in fear for their safety.
A further five per cent have resorted to self-harm and three per cent attempted suicide as a direct result of cyberbullying.
One 16-year-old girl said: "Through this bullying, which was not just on the internet, I tried to commit suicide, ended up going to child and adolescent mental health services and stopped going to school. The only reason it has improved is because I left school."
Of the 339 teaching professionals surveyed, one in 10 teachers said they had experienced harassment through a technological medium and 48 per cent have witnessed or heard about it happening to their colleagues.
A further 15 per cent said they feel afraid for their safety or that of their family and three per cent feel forced to resign from their jobs.
On average, teachers reported spending six hours a week dealing with cases of cyberbullying.
One secondary school teacher from Derbyshire said: "The perpetrators do this in and out of school time but it is invariably brought into school and school staff have to spend time dealing with it. The technology moves on and changes so quickly, it is difficult for non-technical people to keep up with."
