Every third child victims of cyber-bullying

Survey Study: Every third child has been the victim of cyberbullying

31.08.2011

According to a recent study by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), one out of every three adolescents has been the victim of cyberbullying. While children used to be teased on the playground or in the classroom in earlier times, bullying attacks are now more and more virtual on the internet. The victims can hardly resist because of the prevailing anonymity of the internet. Parents are usually powerless against this phenomenon. For the children, the slurs often have psychological and physical consequences.

Katrin S. (14) suddenly finds private pictures in the web interface of Facebook. Among them are written serious insults and threats. Many of her classmates press the button „I like it“. The result: Katrin does not want to go to school any longer, looks withdrawn and feels badly hurt in her self-esteem. Such an incident is no longer an isolated case. According to a study by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), every third young person in Germany has already been victimized by mobbing on the Internet. Many times threats, insults or denigrations are made by the classmates via the Internet. A large majority of the class association sees this as „normal“ or even actively supports cyberbullying. „What used to be considered a classmouth came as cyberbullying in the 21st century“, said a spokesman for the box office on presentation of the study on Tuesday in Hamburg. Virtually fall the children and young people on the Internet „very deliberately over each other“, as the health insurance company warned. Over the course of the study, experts had interviewed experts in one year on behalf of the fund.

First and foremost, bullying on the Internet, according to the study threats and insults are expressed against the victims. 18 percent of the surveyed adolescents stated this. Another field is the „defamation“ in a good 13 percent of the cases. Eight percent even said that somebody has ever used their identity and three percent of the children said that e-mails or photos had been passed on to third parties in an unauthorized manner.

The acting students are mostly unaware of the significance of their act. Many teenagers state, „it's just a joke“, as Gritli Bertram, social worker from Hannover reports. Such a procedure is criminally relevant. According to the study, one in ten survey respondents has even bullied the web. One in five said he thinks he can actively bully himself once he or she feels it necessary.

For those affected, the insults and denigrations in the network have some serious consequences. Every fifth victim claimed to be following such a bullying attack „desperate and helpless“ to feel. One in three said he felt emotionally hurt and one in two was „angry“ on the perpetrators. The consequences are not only psychological but also physically manifest. Six percent said they suffer from symptoms such as headaches or abdominal pain due to abuse. Since then, 18 percent find it difficult to fall asleep or wake up again and again at night. „Children often suffer massively from the vilification, some of which continue in the real world“, reports the social pedagogue from practice. „The consequences can be depressive episodes all the way to suicide“.

Due to the rapid spread of the Internet in German households, cyber-bullying has continued to increase. Almost 100 percent (99) said they use the Internet through an internet connection from home. 90 percent reported that they regularly visit social networks like „Facebook“ or „Student VZ“. 66 percent use such services almost every day. 59 percent of respondents use the Web for school and 54 percent surf with their friends or siblings. Almost two-thirds of young people use the Internet via mobile phone.

According to the authors of the study, the results of the survey show that "perpetrators can access the World Wide Web for the most part unhindered." Because only in 17 percent of children and adolescents, the Internet is blocked by a backup for certain sites. In every second interviewee, at least in conversation or education, parents influence the use of time (58 percent) or content. “If a child withdraws more and more or shuns the school, parents should seek the conversation and talk together about solution strategies“, advises the teacher. The survey was conducted on behalf of the health insurance fund by the Opinion and Research Institute Forsa. (Sb)

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio.de