A new survey has revealed that Irish teenagers are more likely to be cyberbullied that those of any other country. The survey was conducted by YouGov on behalf of Vodafone.
The results found that one in four Irish teenagers have been victims of cyberbullying. This is a shocking statistic when compared with one in five across the 11 other countries surveyed. Almost two thirds of Irish teenagers said that they thought cyberbullying was worse than face-to-face bullying. Half said it is a bigger problem than drugs among our youth.
45 per cent of Irish teenagers felt helpless when they were the victims of cyber-bullying while 29 per cent admitted that they felt “completely alone” when they were targeted. One in four of those who had been cyberbullied experienced suicidal thoughts.
Nine in ten Irish teenagers said they would find it easier to cope with cyberbullying if they received support from their friends on social media. However, four in ten said that they would not be sure how exactly to support a friend who was experiencing cyberbullying. Three quarters of the teens surveyed said that they would use an emoji to show their support for a friend being cyberbullied.