MANY CHILDREN do not tell parents they are victims of cyber-bullying because they don’t think adults can help, the Psychological Society of Ireland’s annual conference in Wexford heard last night.
Dr Irene Connolly of Dún Laoghaire IADT said Canadian research had found that 48.9 per cent of children did not tell adults about online bullying. When questioned about it, many children said there was no point because the adults would not be able to stop it.
She said the nature of technology-led bullying had changed in Ireland in recent years. Mobile phone texts and calls were once the main method, but with improved internet access around the State these were replaced by bullying on social networking websites such as Bebo and Facebook.
Instant messaging was a key method, Dr Connolly said, while bullying via mobile phones had fallen to third place. She also highlighted significant differences in the reported prevalence of cyber-bullying in Ireland and abroad.
Various Irish research had found the percentage of children claiming they had been cyber-bullied once or twice in the previous three months was between 6.3 per cent and 11 per cent, while the figure in Britain was 22 per cent – and 55 per cent in Canada.
While the Irish figures seemed low, she said it was still “a very high percentage”. She called for an intervention programme to reduce cyber-bullying involving children, parents and teachers.
Some 600 delegates are expected to attend the psychology conference, ending on Sunday.
More than 200 papers, posters and symposia will be presented, covering issues such as discrimination and diversity, child abuse, finding work in a recession, body image, parenting and health.
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