Submitted by on Mon, 15 Aug 2005 12:08
Following research that found that one in 10 British youngsters admitted being photographed by a mobile phone camera and feeling threatened and 14% of kids have been bullied by SMS, Children's Charity NCH and Tesco Mobile have set up a web site to help young people deal with bullying online, via SMS and MMS.
Remote messaging technology has meant that bullying can take place without anyone seeing what is happening to what may already be isolated kids. Historically, most bullying took place at school, or between home and the school gates. As soon as a child got home they could shut the door behind them and find sanctuary. Home was a place where the bullies could not reach them. Mobile bullying has changed that.
In 2002 the NCH carried out a nationwide survey and found that as many as one in four 11 to 19 year olds in the UK has been bullied or threatened via their mobile phone or PC. Many victims of bullying suffer in silence as was found by the survey that discovered that 29 per cent of those surveyed said they'd told no one about being bullied.
It's latest research carried out in March 2005 found that 20% of yougnsters have experienced some form of digital bullying. Text bullying was the most significant form of bullying at 14 per cent.
The potential for pictures taken and shared with cameraphones has not been missed by bullies with one in 10 youngsters saying that a camerphone had been used to take a picture of them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or threatened. Of these 17% believed that the picture had been sent on to someone else. Almost four million UK young people own a camera-enabled handset, with this figure set to double to eight million by 2007.
The website aims to help young people deal with the growing menace of 'cyber' bullying, from nasty texts to bullying via camera phone, online chatrooms and websites.
The site explains what this kind of bullying is, what the young person can do to make it stop, how to prevent it in the first place, and who to talk to about it.
Tips for those being bullied include keeping a record of the pictures and messages - something that bullies won't expect.
Teco Mobile is also running a text response service. By texting the word bully to non premium rated number 60000, some tips and the web site address is texted back.
As well as advice to youngsters, the web site includes useful links plus advice for parents/carers and teachers.