India ranks third on global cyber bullying list

Cyber bullying is a common occurrence, that is getting increasingly worrying and a recent study by Microsoft has thrown up some shocking numbers. In their Global Youth Online Behavior Survey' that Microsoft conducted across 25 countries in the world, India was found to be in the third position, falling behind only China and Singapore. The survey found India in the third position with 53 percent of the respondents, which comprised children between the age 8-17 years admitting to have experienced online bullying, while in China 70 percent of the respondents admitted to have been bullied online and 58 percent in Singapore were found to have undergone a similar predicament.  

Study puts India in third place in cyber bullying list (Image credit: Getty Images)

The survey, which covered more than 7,600 children, worldwide concluded that over half of the Indian children surfing the Internet underwent cyberbullying - instances of which range from getting threatened or being harassed online. The study also defines cyber bullying as 'use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person.' The survey was conducted across 25 countries, globally, which also included - Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, the UAE, the UK and the US. Another important aspect highlighted in the survey was how children were treating those of their kind while online and if parents were doing their bit in adressing online behaviour.

More than 5 in 10 children surveyed in India had to say that ' they have experienced what adults might consider online bullying, while a similar number said they had done something their parents may consider online bullying.' The report further quotes Microsoft Director (Trustworthy Computing) Jacqueline Beauchere, as saying, "Protecting children from online bullying is a shared responsibility. Everyone plays a role: parents, educators, school counsellors, coaches, online safety advocates, industry, law enforcement, government and children themselves."

Interestingly, some 45 percent of the respondents, who're parents replied that they do teach their children online manners, while 38 percent of the schools (attended by respondents) actually have formal policies on cyber bullying. In a stark contrast, the survey also revealed that globally while children want to discuss the issue with their parents, only 29 percent of the children said that their parents talked to them about protection while using the Internet.

The survey also discussed as to how it was important for adults, both parents of a child and the school he/she goes to, to not only discuss the issue of cyber bullying with children, but also guide them on how to identify and respond to a host of online behaviors, that may include 'online meanness to bullying and beyond.'

Early this year, results of a new Ipsos/Reuters poll had been revealed too and findings of it proved that more than 10 percent of parents around the world admitted to their child being cyberbullied, while nearly one-fourth 'know a youngster who has been a victim. Interestingly, more than three-quarters of people that were questioned in the global survey thought of cyberbullying as being different from other types of harassment and hence it deserved special attention and efforts from both, parents and schools. The online poll comprising more than 18,000 adults in 24 countries, 6,500 of whom were parents revealed that 'the most widely reported vehicle for cyberbullying was social networking sites likes Facebook, which were cited by 60 percent.'

News Sources