NEARLY ONE IN every six young teenagers (16%) were cyberbullied in 2022, an increase from 13% four years ago, according to a new World Health Organisation Europe report.

The “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children” study, which spans 44 countries, identified that the Covid-19 pandemic changed how teenagers treat and behave towards each other.

Virtual forms of violence against peers has become particularly relevant since the onset of the pandemic, when young people’s worlds became “increasingly virtual” during lockdown restrictions, according to the report.

15% of boys and 16% of girls between the ages of 11 and 15 reported being cyberbullied at least once in recent months.  

One in eight admitted to cyberbullying others, an increase of 3% since 2018. 

In most places, cyberbullying peaked when children were 11 years old for boys and 13 for girls. 

Other types of bullying remained largely stable with some small increases.

11% reported being bullied at school at least two or three times a month, compared to 10% four years ago.

Physical fighting episodes were engaged in by 14% of boys and 6% of girls. 

WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge called the report a “wake-up call” for “all of us to address bullying and violence, whenever and wherever it happens”.

“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,” Kluge said.

The study was based on data from 279,000 children and teenagers from 44 countries across Europe, Central Asia and Canada.

The highest levels of cyberbullying were experienced by boys in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Moldova and Poland and the lowest levels were reported in Spain. 

The report says that “more investment in the monitoring of different forms of peer violence is needed”.

“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.”

Additional reporting by AFP