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One in four primary school children report being cyber-bullied in the past year

Over a quarter (26%) of the 5,000 children surveyed had seen or experienced something online in the last year that “bothered” them.

OVER 25% OF primary school aged children have faced cyberbullying in the past year according to a new report.

Posting pictures without permission, creation of fake profiles, and being excluded from chat groups were amongst the commonly reported forms of such behaviour.

Over a quarter of the 5,000 children surveyed had seen or experienced something online in the last year that “bothered” them, defined as content that scared them, upset them or made them wish they hadn’t seen it.

Nearly half of the younger children (46%) didn’t tell a parent or trusted adult about this experience, rising to 67% for secondary school children in this position.

CyberSafeKids, an Irish online safety charity, carried out the research for its Annual Trends and Usage Report and were able to include secondary school children for the first time.

Its chief executive Alex Cooney warned that online safety for children remains a critical issue that is “not being sufficiently addressed” in Ireland’s education system or by the social media companies whose platforms are being used.

“Our data shows children are extremely active on social media, often unsupervised, leaving them highly vulnerable to bullying, grooming, and exposure to violent or sexual content.”

The research also found a “couple of instances” of 8-12 year old boy using the OnlyFans website, which is an 18+ subscription
service and is often associated with creators of adult content.

Up to 40% of secondary school-goers reported being cyber-bullied, with girls overall more likely to be victimised than boys. 

Smartphone ownership is widespread with little difference between primary and second school children – 93% of 8-12 year olds have their own smart device whereas it’s 98% for 12-16 year olds.

The fresh figures follow a call from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last week for the ban of smartphones in schools because of the negative impact they have on children and teens’ mental health.

Almost two-thirds (62%) of teachers dealt with online safety incidents while 31% of 8-12 year olds are allowed online whenever they want.

The incidence of cyberbullying significantly increases at secondary school (aged 12 to 16) to 40%, with girls more likely than boys to have been victimised online (43% vs 30%).

Young children are also unaware of how best to protect themselves online with 22% posting videos, and 17% unaware of how to manage privacy settings.  

‘Disempowered’

One school principal in Dublin said the figures confirmed the findings of her own teachers.

Carmel Hume, principal of Presentation Primary School, Terenure said staff have found children “feel disempowered” by social media, especially in large group chats.

“They are afraid to leave a group, and afraid to speak up if they see others being ridiculed. We were shocked by the number of children who had access to their smartphones in their bedrooms late at night,” she said.

“Many slept with phones under their pillows. Negative commentary online has become normalised and the nuances of face-to-face communication and engagements are being lost.

“As principal of an all-girls school I worry about the influence of social media on image and body positivity, and I urge parents and guardians to exercise stronger control.”

Young girls are more likely to post videos of themselves online (26% v 18%) according to the report.

The survey by Ireland’s online safety charity of over 5,000 children included secondary school aged children for the first time.

Professor Brian O’Neill of TU Dublin, who is a CyberSafeKids advisor, said children’s online safety is a shared responsibility that requires a “more urgent response” by all.

“Given the fast-changing nature of the digital environment, parents and teachers cannot be expected to manage it without support,” O’Neill said.

Most popular apps

For 8-12 year-olds, YouTube (76%) is the most popular app, followed by WhatsApp (39%), Tik Tok (37%) and Snapchat (37%).

Online gaming is also popular with young children, with 15% playing over-18 games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. Boys were more likely to play over-18 games at 28% compared to just 6% of girls.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of 12-16 year-olds said they can go online whenever they want, with 40% posting videos of themselves on social media platforms.

Younger children face more controls at home from parents, but 31% of 8-12 year olds say they are free to go online whenever they want, and 15% of primary school children have no rules in place for going online at home.

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29 Comments
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    Mute Mary M
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    Sep 5th 2023, 8:54 AM

    What are primary students doing online in the first place?

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    Mute Simon Moore (SkylineSi)
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:01 AM

    Why on earth does a primary school going child have access to a digital device for that long or at all for that matter…. Parents need to parent!

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    Mute John Terry
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:53 AM

    @Simon Moore (SkylineSi): you forget,everything in this country is someone else’s fault.never ‘ours’

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    Mute Terry Fagan
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    Sep 5th 2023, 1:28 PM

    @Simon Moore (SkylineSi): Unfortunately, if every other kid in 4th class has a phone and your child doesn’t, that leaves them open for bullying and being excluded. That’s not the way it should be but that’s the way it is. If that’s your child it’s not an easy decision to make.

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    Mute Sarah O'Sullivan
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    Sep 5th 2023, 4:05 PM

    @Terry Fagan: Keeping a child safe should be an easy decision for a parent to make.

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    Mute Simon Moore (SkylineSi)
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    Sep 5th 2023, 5:26 PM

    @Terry Fagan: ah but if smart phones are banned in primary school all together, then that is not an issue. Looking forward to seeing how it works out in the Wicklow schools this year

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    Mute NUMO Garage
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:02 AM

    Smart phones should be banned for under 14s, nó child should have or needs a phone.

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    Mute Terry Fagan
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    Sep 5th 2023, 1:28 PM

    @NUMO Garage: and how do you enforce that?

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    Mute Mike Carson
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:29 AM

    If one in four primary kids are been bullied on line its completely the parents fault, on both sides. Firstly these children shouldn’t be online without being 100% monitored. I’m not against kids being online but the should be supervised at all times. They should be watched for bullying against them and for them doing the bullying. Time parents took more responsibility for their children. Parents need to educate their kids around bullying. kids need to be informed its ok to report it as it happens, parents of kids bullying need to be held account for it and the responsibility of correcting it put on them. Bring law into. Forced counselling for repeat bullies and their parents. Key here is kids are kids, they act how they are raised, or not raised in some cases, its up to parents to control and impart civil & moral values on them. Be parents.

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    Mute Iano C
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    Sep 5th 2023, 10:07 AM

    @Mike Carson: Best comment I’ve read on here in a long time!

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    Mute
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:30 AM

    There is no reason a child needs a smartphone. A bog basic one for communication is enough. They should be banned during school hours for primary and secondary schools. After that, parents need to step up.

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    Mute Shane O Mac
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    Sep 5th 2023, 3:51 PM

    No phones means outside and more anti social behaviour, parents can’t even look after their kids

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    Mute Gerry Kelly
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:40 AM

    Follow the example of Greystones Co. Wicklow
    Childhood is a precious and all too short time

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    Mute Iano C
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:44 AM

    The government needs to step in and ban personal digital devices in primary schools.

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    Mute John Terry
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:57 AM

    @Iano C: then they will be blamed for being a nanny state.can’t win….. no ,how about parents acting like parents and taking what’s know as responsibility(it’s lost on a lot of people in this country)

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    Mute Iano C
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    Sep 5th 2023, 10:14 AM

    @John Terry: I agree with you. I feel we’re on the same page. But let the moaners moan. They’ll always find something to complain about. In the meantime, make a law banning personal digital devices in primary schools (removes the chances of a kid being bullied/slagged for not having one, by other kids) and then let good parenting handle the remainder of the day. Being online is a reality. It’s essential, in a lot of ways. But strict, monitored (via parental software/apps) can at least mitigate most of the risk. Regardless, I’ll be heavy-handed on this one with my kids (one just started primary this week + one more to follow in a few years). Wish me luck!!

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    Mute John Terry
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    Sep 5th 2023, 10:52 AM

    @Iano C: I have three girls,one in secondary and the other two in primary.it is a constant battle.our school have ‘hinted’ that a ban is coming in and a huge amount of parents are up in arms and are insisting that the school are overstepping their mark……As I always say,we are very quick in this country to blame everyone but ourselves for all the shortcomings in life.cheers.

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    Mute Sarah O'Sullivan
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    Sep 5th 2023, 4:08 PM

    @Iano C: Does anyone know of any primary school that allows children access to their personal smartphones at school? I’ve certainly never heard of it.

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    Mute Turkish Delight
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    Sep 6th 2023, 1:17 AM

    @John Terry: in fairness, we weren’t allowed to bring in game boys etc, could only imagine how the Christian brothers would have reacted to swing lads on tik tok. Very supprised phones are allowed to be turned on during school ours, but with the use of ipads/lap tops it won’t change a thing re. Online bullying / drama.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Sep 5th 2023, 8:52 AM

    Logins must be checked and regulated in a way you can’t be anonymous. That would stop a lot of abuse. Laws already existing, might need to be tuned.

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    Mute John Terry
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:54 AM

    @Dominic Leleu: or,parents need to parent.

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    Mute bruce banner
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    Sep 5th 2023, 9:10 AM

    If EU wins the privacy battle with the US mega corps like meta etc this might fix itself in the most part as how US accounts will have to be firewalled off from EU Users. And lets face it, most of the toxicity on these plaforms originate from murica.

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    Mute Rob Cahill
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    Sep 5th 2023, 10:10 AM

    @bruce banner: Started in America, Spread worldwide quickly, Irish people on this very website as saying Maga.. The world is gone crazy.

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    Mute brian o'leary
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    Sep 5th 2023, 1:10 PM

    @bruce banner: does it make you angry Bruce?

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    Mute Keego
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    Sep 5th 2023, 11:13 AM

    Cyber bullying is a massive issue

    But in the 90’s the number of people being bullied physically and badly was far higher than 1 in 4. Probably higher again in the 60’s and 70’s.

    Damaged people are bringing up their kids and they’re damaged.

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    Mute IMHO
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    Sep 5th 2023, 5:23 PM

    Simply introduce a law that makes it illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to own a smart phone . Simple phones or pagers are all that’s necessary to ensure regular contact between children and parents. We’ve created this monster, but we can put it back in it’s box.

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    Mute Turkish Delight
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    Sep 6th 2023, 1:18 AM

    @IMHO: they have ipads in school now so the horse has bolted.

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