Mobile bullying concerns

Tuesday, 7 June 2005 12:00 AM

A leading children's welfare charity has said it is becoming concerned by the rise in a new form of bullying which sees children targeted by text message.

According to research carried out by children's charity NCH, secondary school pupils are frequently becoming the victims of bullies via their mobile phones, receiving threatening or abusive text messages.

The research also found a growing phenomenon of pupils being humiliated in front of their peers through video clips and pictures taken and circulated on mobiles.

Of the 770 11- to 19-year-olds polled, 14 per cent said they had been threatened or harassed by text message, while one in ten revealed images had been taken of them by mobiles which were then used to intimidate or embarrass them.

Part of these figures represents the sudden interest in so-called 'happy slapping', whereby youngsters assault others and film the attack on their mobiles.

Over a quarter of the increasing number of children being bullied by mobile revealed that they did not know who their tormentor was.

John Carr, the NCH's new technology adviser, commented: "This extremely worrying phenomenon highlights the urgent need to tackle mobile bullying before it ruins more lives."

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