A WHO Europe survey covering 44 countries revealed on Wednesday that 16 percent of children aged 11 to 15 were cyberbullied in 2022, up from 13 percent four years before.
“This report is a wake-up call for all of us to address bullying and violence whenever and wherever they occur,” WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement. According to the study titled “Health Behavior in School-aged Children,” 15% of boys and 16% of girls reported being cyberbullied at least once in the last several months. The UN body stated that the pandemic has altered the way adolescents interact with one another.
“Virtual forms of peer violence have become particularly relevant since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when young people’s worlds became increasingly virtual during times of lockdown,” the report said. Other bullying has been quite steady, with only a minor uptick. Eleven percent of boys and girls reported being bullied at school at least twice or three times per month in the last few months, up from ten percent four years before. Boys in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Moldova, and Poland suffered the most cyberbullying, while the lowest levels were reported in Spain, according to the WHO, which did not provide precise statistics. “With young people spending up to six hours online every single day, even small changes in the rates of bullying and violence can have profound implications for the health and well-being of thousands,” he said.
One out of every eight adolescents acknowledged cyberbullying others
According to the report, one out of every eight adolescents acknowledged cyberbullying others, representing a three-point increase from 2018. Meanwhile, the number of teenagers who engaged in physical fighting remained consistent at 10% across the four years, with boys accounting for 14% and girls for 6%. The study analyzed data from 279,000 children and adolescents from 44 European, Central Asian, and Canadian nations. In most countries, cyberbullying peaked at age 11 for boys and 13 for girls. The survey indicated that parents’ socioeconomic level did not influence their children’s behavior.
Canada was an outlier, with less advantaged kids more likely to be bullied. There, 27% of girls from the 20% least affluent families reported being bullied at school, compared to 21% of girls from the 20% most affluent families. The report acknowledged that the problem was pervasive and advocated for increased efforts to raise awareness. “More investment in the monitoring of different forms of peer violence is needed,” according to the report. “There is also an urgent need to educate young people, families and schools of the forms of cyberbullying and its implications, while regulating social media platforms to limit exposures to cyberbullying,” the report said.
