Statistics showing the toll of cyber-bullying on pupils and teachers mean an online mentoring programme piloted in Perth must be rolled out across the country, a leading charity has claimed.
With youngsters claiming they have been driven to attempted suicide and teachers leaving the profession because of online persecution, Beatbullying called for its Cybermentors scheme to be expanded.
The charity said cyber-bullying is becoming the weapon of choice among the nation’s youth and is showing no signs of dissipating.
Cybermentors, introduced in Perth last year, saw 30 Perth High School pupils trained to support their peers with any bullying issue in the safe environment of cybermentors.org.uk.
Beatbullying’s study, Virtual Violence II, was commissioned by Nominet Trust with the National Association of Head Teachers. Its study revealed one in 13 youngsters have experienced persistent and intentional cyber-bullying.
It revealed that 23% reported the bullying lasted for a year or more, while 40% said that it lasted for months or weeks. The findings closely mirror Beatbullying’s first Virtual Violence study in 2009.
Victims said they were reluctant to go to school and had self-esteem issues, while some admitted living in fear for their safety. A small number resort to self-harm (5%) or even attempted suicide (3%).
The rise of mobile phones in classrooms and the widespread use of social networking and sites such as ratemyteachers.com mean teachers are becoming as common a victim of cyber-bullying as young people.
One in 10 said they have experienced harassment through a technological medium and almost 50% have seen or heard about it happening to colleagues.
Some said they feared for their own, or their family’s, safety while 3% said they had considered giving up teaching.
The report also reveals an average of six hours a week and £18m per year is spent dealing with cyber-bullying.