Children hit by digital bullying

Children as young as 11 have been threatened online either in chat rooms or by menacing text messages, according to a survey by children’s charity NCH.

It found that one in four of all children in the UK have been bullied or intimidated by people sending malicious and threatening messages via text message, email or chat.

And it seems that mobile phones are the most commonly abused medium with 16 per cent of young people saying they’d received bullying or threatening text messages, followed by 7 per cent who said they'd been harassed in chat rooms and 4 per cent via e-mail.

A third of all those who endured such intimidation said they had not reported the incident to anyone.

The findings of this survey have prompted NCH to call for greater awareness for what it describes as "21st century bullying techniques".

Said John Carr, Associate Director of NCH’s Children and Technology Unit: "On-line bullying is a modern menace which needs to be addressed.

"If we want our children to benefit from all the good things IT has to offer, we need to protect them from the risks it poses."

For more information on protecting children from digital bullying visit NCH's "ITOK" Web site here. ®