A WHO Europe report released last week, covering 44 countries, said that by 2022 about 16 percent 11-15-year-old children were bullied online, and four years ago there were 13% of such children.
“This report is a call to action for all of us to address the issue of bullying and violence wherever it occurs,” WHO European Regional Director Hans Kluge said in a statement.
15 percent boys and 16 percent of girls reported being cyberbullied at least once in the past months, according to the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study. Health Behavior in School-aged Children).
The United Nations agency noted that the pandemic has changed the behavior of teenagers among themselves, writes Science Alert.
“Virtual forms of peer violence have become particularly relevant since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as young people’s worlds have become increasingly virtual during lockdowns,” the report said.
11 percent of boys and girls reported being bullied at school at least two or three times a month in the past couple of months, compared to 10 percent four years ago.
Boys experienced the most cyberbullying in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Moldova and Poland, and the least in Spain, the WHO said, without providing detailed data.
“With young people spending up to six hours online every day, even small changes in levels of bullying and violence can have a big impact on the health and well-being of thousands of people,” Kluge said.
One in eight teenagers admitted to bullying others online, a three percent increase from 2018, the report said.
The study was conducted on the basis of data from 279,000 children and adolescents from 44 countries in Europe, Central Asia and Canada.
Tags: latest report Lithuania included worst list due bullying experienced children Internet shocking statistics
