Rumours, malicious insults, almost without a break: Cyberbullying puts a heavy strain on those affected. Every sixth student has already experienced this. But because of the pandemic, prevention is difficult.
Berlin – They are not even safe in their own children’s room: those affected by cyberbullying can hardly escape the constant insults and abuse on the Internet.
“I actually have the bullying in my pocket all the time,” explains Hendrikje Schmidt from the crisis chat, a psychosocial counseling service for children and young people on Wednesday in Berlin, with regard to the cell phone. As a result, many young people feel helpless and powerless. “There’s no end to it, and I can’t undo it or stop it.”
According to a survey published on Wednesday by the Alliance Against Cyberbullying in cooperation with Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), one in six schoolchildren (16.7 percent) has already been affected by cyberbullying. That corresponds to more than 1.8 million students between the ages of 7 and 20. The proportion of those affected has fallen slightly by 0.6 percentage points since the last survey in 2020, but remains at a high level.
Digital bullying is different
Victims most frequently report abuse and insults (78 percent) and lies and rumors (59 percent). 40 percent of the affected students have already been blackmailed or threatened online.
Bullying has been around for a long time, said Jens Baas, CEO of TK. “But in the past bullying was something that was then limited to certain situations.” You got out of these situations again. “That’s much more difficult in today’s digital world.”
The ongoing bullying over the Internet puts a strain on the psyche of the students in particular. According to the survey, those affected feel hurt (58 percent), angry (40 percent) and scared (34 percent). About a quarter had already had suicidal thoughts. Schmidt also knows messages from the crisis chat in which children and young people report such thoughts. But every message is taken seriously.
The pandemic has intensified cyberbullying: thanks to online lessons and contact restrictions, the children have spent even more time on the Internet – and the bullying has migrated there even more, the authors of the study write. The majority of children and young people (65 percent) say that cyberbullying has increased since the corona pandemic.
Prevention is important
The survey does not only look at those affected, but also at the perpetrators. Six percent of the students surveyed stated that they themselves had bullied someone online. It is striking that the roles of perpetrator and victim can merge into one another. Almost one in five perpetrators has suffered from cyberbullying themselves.
Therefore, prevention is one of the most important elements against cyberbullying, says Uwe Leest, Chairman of the Alliance Against Cyberbullying. “Because if we don’t have any perpetrators, that is, if we don’t let the perpetrators become perpetrators in the first place, then we don’t have to talk about the subject of victims either.”
Those affected want more support – also from the state. 62 percent of children and young people were of the opinion that the state should do much more to combat cyberbullying. 65 percent of the teachers are of the same opinion.
After all, almost half of the children and young people said that pupils learned at school how to behave in the event of cyberbullying. Nevertheless, the prevention work should urgently be intensified, the authors write. “Schools that actively address this issue, cyberbullying, have significantly reduced, much smaller numbers of victims in the schools,” explains Leest. “It can be seen very clearly: Prevention works.” dpa
