Listen: anti bullying week

In the wrong hands the internet can be used to spread hateful, explicit content and abuse. Online harms are not only widespread but can have very serious consequences. Children who have been harassed or bullied online are left with mental health issues including depression (52%), feeling humiliated (46%), scared (42%), lonely (42%) and in the worst cases having suicidal thoughts (12%).

44% of children aged 9 to 18 who have been bullied online, said it happened in the last six months during lockdown, taking place on Facebook (30%), WhatsApp (25%), Snapchat (23%), Instagram (22%) and school networks (10%). Appearance tops the list for reasons targeted for bullying (46%) followed by an illness or disability (11%) and sexual orientation (11%). Over two thirds (68%) of primary and secondary school teachers don’t think there are currently enough parameters to keep children safe online.

The new research comes from safeguarding software specialist Impero at the start of National Antibullying Week. Today, they are calling on the Government to review their Online Harms Bill sooner, a White Paper that proposes measures to boost the tech-safety sector in the UK, and make social media companies more accountable. It comes as four in 10 children say they don’t think the Government is doing enough to keep people safe online.

Aston spoke to safeguarding expert Charlotte Aynsley to discuss the research and talk about the Online Harms Bill in more detail to explain how important it really is.