National: One in four primary school children get cyberbullied

ONE IN four primary school children in Ireland get cyberbullied, according to a new survey.

Over 90% of children aged eight to 12 have their own smart device and new figures from CyberSafeKids’ Annual Trends and Usage Report show that one in four of this age group experiences cyberbullying in their final year of primary school.

As well as this, 40% of secondary school students aged 12 to 16 also reported cyberbullying.

CyberSafeKids, Ireland's online safety charity, conducted their annual survey by getting feedback from over 5,000 primary and secondary school students from September 2022 to June 2023.

Pupils should ration phone use at home to prevent tiredness in school – minister

CEO of the charity Alex Cooney said that unsupervised usage of online apps leaves children “highly vulnerable” to bullying and online predators: “Our data shows children are extremely active on social media, often unsupervised, leaving them highly vulnerable to bullying, grooming, and exposure to violent or sexual content. 

“We've been reporting on these patterns for the past seven years, but not enough is being done,” Ms Cooney said. 

The research found that only 52% of primary school children, and 39% of secondary school children told a parent or trusted adult they were being bullied. 

Posting pictures without permission, creation of fake profiles, and being excluded from chat groups were amongst the commonly reported forms of cyberbullying behaviour. 

Saying that she was “shocked” by the amount of children who had access to their smartphones late at night and “slept with them under their pillows”, Ms Carmel Hume, Principal of Presentation Primary School in Terenure, said: “As principal of an all-girls school, I worry about the influence of social media on image and body positivity, and I urge parents and guardians to exercise stronger control.

“Children feel disempowered by social media, especially in large group chats. They are afraid to leave a group, and afraid to speak up if they see others being ridiculed. 

Over a quarter (26%) of all the children surveyed had seen or experienced something online in the last year that “bothered” them (defined as content that scared them, upset them or made them wish they hadn’t seen it) such as sexual or violent content. 

Nearly half of the younger children (46%) didn’t tell a parent or trusted adult about this experience, rising to 67% for secondary school children in this position. 

Founded in 2015, CyberSafeKids provides guidance to primary and secondary schools to help children, teachers and parents navigate the online world in a responsible way. To date, the charity has spoken directly to over 55,000 children and to almost 12,000 parents.