Mobile phone bullying is on the increase but there is plenty of support available
Text bullying involves a number of behaviours including:
- sending anonymous texts, making threats of violence
- name-calling
- giving out personal information that children and young people feel embarrassed about
- sending frightening or obscene images with a threat.
As the number of children who own a mobile phone continues to rise, the problem is likely to increase further. Young people become very attached to their phones and take them everywhere. This means that the perpetrator can bully at any time of the day. Incidents of bullying over the phone can become very intense and the victim can feel that there is no let-up.
Children are sometimes reluctant to tell adults what is happening because they fear that they will have their phone taken away from them.
Schools can make a difference by taking on the issue through the curriculum and having a clear and effective policy on mobile phone use, as well as a whole-school anti-bullying policy.
For more information, visit the following pages on anti-bullying websites: