Cyberbullying is one of the biggest concerns of modern day internet users, as we see from many of the pleas for help we receive in response to our article on tracing a fake Facebook account, but do we in the UK get the worst of it? Where are the cyberbullies of the world lurking?
Market research company Ipsos published a report last week on the subject of cyberbullying around the world, analysing attitudes and awareness of the problem throughout 28 countries, as well as how prevalent it is in each of them.
It appears that India is the worst nation for cyberbullying, with well over a third (37%) of parents there saying their child has experienced bullying online. An alarming 14% of Indian parents go as far as to say it happens on a regular basis. Brazil also appears to be a nation with a cyberbullying issue, with 29% of parents saying their child has been on the receiving end, and in third place is the USA with 27%.
Despite many Indian parents’ experiences of cyberbullying, awareness of the problem in the Asian nation is relatively low. When asked whether they had ever heard, seen or read anything about cyberbullying, 37% of Indians said no, which is well above the global average of 25%. Over a quarter of Indians (26%) also do not believe cyberbullying needs to be addressed by any special preventative methods, and that it can be dealt with through existing measures.
Awareness levels are highest in Sweden and Italy (both 91%) and lowest in Saudi Arabia (37%).
Incredibly, the number of Russian parents who talk of their child being bullied over the internet is recorded as 0%. Japan also seems a nation that takes the problem seriously, with 89% believing there should be special anti-cyberbullying measures, yet only 4% of Japanese parents are aware of their kids experiencing it.
The UK puts in a fairly average showing throughout the survey, with the 17% of British parents whose children have experienced cyberbullying exactly the same as the worldwide average. Awareness in the UK is slightly below the going rate at 29%.
Not surprisingly, social media is the main cyberbullying outlet. Of the parents who were aware of an incident, 65% said the harassment came from a social media site. Mobile (40%) and online messaging (33%) were other common sources.
Overall, the global percentage of kids experiencing online persecution is the same as two years ago at 17%, but is up from 12% in 2011. However, the UK’s 17% figure is up from 15% in 2016, suggesting that the problem is still growing here when the global trend has been for it to plateau.
Remember that if a fake Facebook account is causing you or your children misery, an eBook available from the Online Learning Academy can help you find out who is behind it.
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