Current study on the topic of cyber bullying.
On the occasion of the 19th international Safer Internet Day on February 8, 2022, Saferinternet.at, together with Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm, is presenting a current study on the topic of cyber bullying. As this shows, 17% of all young people have already become victims of cyberbullying. And: Almost half say that online harassment has increased during the pandemic. Cyberbullying most often occurs in a school environment, but it is also where those affected receive the most support. At least through education - because in practice they are often left alone. Parents and schools are called upon to support young people even more.
Lies and rumors on social networks, repeated insults via messenger services or exclusion in online lessons: young people can be affected by cyberbullying in a variety of ways.
In times of lockdowns and home schooling, this phenomenon has continued to increase - more and more young people are experiencing cyberbullying in one way or another. As part of the Saferinternet.at initiative, the Austrian Institute for Applied Telecommunications (ÖIAT) and ISPA - Internet Service Providers Austria, together with Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm, today presented a study on the subject of cyber bullying, for which 11 to 17 year olds were surveyed.
Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm emphasizes: “The pandemic is putting a lot of strain on young people; the last two years have been at the limit of what was bearable for many.
And cyberbullying certainly plays its part here. Therefore, in my opinion, it is very important to quantify problems like this and this study does that. It is extremely important to me that we take bullying seriously, no matter where it happens. In reality, we all have to respond to bullying with an “aha”: educate – take a look – offer help.” 17 percent have already been victims
. Many young people have already had negative online experiences: almost half (48%) have already been insulted and abused experienced first-hand, followed by ghosting, i.e. the sudden, unannounced loss of contact by others (46%).
Lies or rumors spread about oneself (41%), as well as identity theft through fake profiles (37%), unwanted receipt of unpleasant messages (37%) or attempts at intimidation (33%) are also frequently mentioned. But not every unpleasant situation is cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is the intentional, sustained, prolonged insulting, threatening, embarrassing, harassing or exclusion of specific people via digital media. Those affected usually experience a combination of different manifestations. As the study shows, 17% of those surveyed have already been victims of cyberbullying, and 42% have experienced this from others. One in ten even say that they have already actively participated. From fun to serious: perpetrators act for a wide variety of motives.
Young people assume that the perpetrators do not necessarily act with malicious intent: 44% are of the opinion that they simply do not know the line between fun and seriousness.
An important note when it comes to prevention work - creating awareness of different perceptions can be an important step in the fight against cyberbullying. The desire to exercise power was also cited as a very common motive, at 43%.
Around a third of those surveyed cited other reasons as demonstrating group membership (36%), racist motives (33%), the inability to deal with their own anger (31%) and boredom (31%). Cyber bullying mainly happens in public.
Social networks, messenger services or gaming platforms: Cyber bullying can occur wherever young people move online.
Young people most frequently mention platforms on which public communication takes place: Instagram (56%), followed by TikTok (42%), Facebook (36%) and Snapchat (32%). Although almost all respondents use WhatsApp, messenger services are only the 5th most common cyber bullying platform at 30%.
Online games were mentioned by 25%, and 11% also mentioned video chat applications for teaching. More incidents in times of the pandemic
The pandemic with its repeated lockdowns has led to a shift in social and school life to the online world.
Almost half of those surveyed (48%) agree with the statement that cyberbullying is more common in times of distance learning (19% did not answer). Young people in home schooling have already experienced for themselves and others that participation in online lessons was deliberately made difficult (30%), that they or someone else was deliberately excluded from school information (23%) or during online lessons were mocked (22%). In such cases, cyberbullying also takes place in front of the teachers. “Unfortunately, prevention work has been neglected, especially at this time, which represents a particular challenge for many young people.
Preventive measures against cyberbullying are particularly important during the pandemic,” says Barbara Buchegger, educational director at Saferinternet.at. Those affected know who is behind the attacks.
In the public eye, the perpetrators of cyber bullying primarily act anonymously.
However, the survey of young people shows that those affected are usually by no means in the dark about the identity of the attacker. The majority say that victims of cyberbullying usually suspect who might be responsible (43%) or even know for sure (30%). The fact that cyberbullying occurs primarily in school environments is also evident here: 43% of young people say that the perpetrators can be found there, followed by Internet users (21%) and acquaintances (8%).
Helpful strategies do not always work in practice.
Young people consider getting help to be the most important strategy against cyberbullying.
Friends are named as the most important contact persons by 78%, followed by parents (71%) and teachers (64%). However, there is sometimes a gap between theory and practice: almost half of those surveyed, 48%, believe that adults are often not helpful in cyberbullying situations. Likewise, a third (33%) of young people have experienced teachers not taking a case seriously. This discrepancy is also evident in the use of technical options to ward off bullying attacks.
70% of young people judge it helpful to block or ban perpetrators on the respective platforms. A majority of 59% also consider reporting these to be helpful. 45% of young people have experienced that their reports to social network operators were not processed as expected. Direct confrontation with the perpetrators is seen as less productive.
Only 23% rated asking them to stop bullying as helpful. Only 18% believe it is beneficial to counter with insults or insults. And simply waiting until the bullying stops again is only an option for 17%. Awareness is increasing - but there is still a lot to do
“Together with the educational institutions, we were able to make a significant contribution to raising awareness about cyber bullying.
The majority of those surveyed, namely 58 percent, know how they can take action against cyber bullying," says ISPA President Harald Kapper happily and emphasizes: "The study makes it clear that we must continue to inform young people about hate on the Internet and cyber bullying , in both school and private environments.” For 84%, the information was provided by teachers, for just under half (45%) by parents, 38% cited the Internet and over a third (35%) cited workshops as a source of information. Parents play a crucial role in cyberbullying prevention.
It is up to them to teach from an early age how to deal with and resolve conflicts offline and online. “Parents should keep an open ear and signal to their child that they are being taken seriously,” says Bernhard Jungwirth, project manager at Saferinternet.at. “No matter what role your child is involved in a cyber-bullying situation: supporting young people and finding a solution together is an important task for parents.” On the other hand, the figures from the study show: When it comes to... When it comes to cyberbullying, the school environment is both the place where it happens and the place for help and prevention.
Therefore, offers and measures must be promoted there, especially in the difficult times of the pandemic: additional training for teachers and directors, an expansion of support structures such as school social work or school psychology and an even greater focus on cyber-bullying in lessons are necessary. Prevention workshops, such as those offered by Saferinternet.at, can provide relief for educators who are heavily challenged in cyber-bullying situations. In addition, online platforms are also required to further improve their reporting processes. Saferinternet.at supports with numerous offers.
The topic of cyberbullying is a big challenge not only for young people, but also for educators and parents. That's why Saferinternet.at supports Austria-wide with workshops and numerous other information offerings. The teaching material “Active against Cyber Bullying” (funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research) can now be ordered and downloaded free of charge. Further guidelines and flyers as well as the parent video guide “Ask Barbara!” round off the offer. The ISPA children's book “The Online Zoo” and the video series of the same name also deal with the topic of cyber bullying, among other things. All offers and download and ordering options can be found at www.saferinternet.at .
On the occasion of Safer Internet Day, the Safer Internet Campaign Month traditionally takes place throughout February. Schools and youth organizations are called upon to take part with their own activities. Detailed information about Safer Internet Day 2022 in Austria and the month of action can be found at www.saferinternetday.at (international: www.saferinternetday.org ).
About the study
The study on the topic of “cyber bullying” was carried out by the Institute for Youth Culture Research and Cultural Mediation on behalf of Saferinternet.at and ISPA – Internet Service Providers Austria. In the online survey, 400 young people between the ages of 11 and 17 were asked representative questions about their age, gender and educational background. The study was supplemented with practical experience from Saferinternet.at workshops.
About Saferinternet.at
Saferinternet.at supports children, young people, parents and teachers in using digital media safely, competently and responsibly. On our website www.saferinternet.at you will find current information and practical tips on topics such as social networks, cyber-bullying, sexuality & the Internet, data protection, copyrights, internet fraud, media education, etc. In addition, Saferinternet.at tailor-made workshops in schools or at parents' evenings as well as free guides, brochures and much more. Saferinternet.at is the Austrian information point in the EU's Safer Internet Network (Insafe) and is implemented by the ACR Institute ÖIAT in cooperation with ISPA. Financing is provided by the EU Commission's "Digital Europe/Safer Internet" program, the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and Business as well as sponsors from business such as A1, Facebook and Huawei. Saferinternet.at activities can be found at www.saferinternet.at . If you have any questions or suggestions about Saferinternet.at , you can send an email to office@saferinternet.at .
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