Cyber-Bullying: One In Three Teens Have Been Targeted

22 February 2013, 05:00

One in three teenagers are victims of cyber bullying but the same number say they take part in onine attacks because their friends do.

The figures seen by Heart were part of research carried out by a national youth charity vInspired.

It asked 2000 14 to 18 year olds whether they'd recieved or sent abusive messages online, or via text or email.

More than a quarter (27%) of those questioned said they are the subject of regular attacks, with the majority of the messages being criticism of the victim's appearance (40%) or about their religion or race (16%), with Facebook the most common place for victims to be trolled.

Sustained abuse is resulting in almost a third (29%) of those questioned losing confidence in themselves, but despite the detrimental effect, nearly a quarter (23%) admit they find trolling funny and almost a third (29%) say they do it because their friends do so too.

Suffolk police say the numbers reporting this type of crime are growing.

Alan Osborne works in their community safety unit and wants youngsters to know what effect they could be having:

Alan Osborne