Children aged 7 subjected to cyber-bullying

CHILDREN as young as seven are being bullied on social networking sites and mobile phones, an expert warned yesterday.

Primary school pupils are falling victim to cyber-bullying as the age of children using Facebook, Bebo and mobile phones falls.

Chief executive of the National Parents Council Primary, Aine Lynch, said that while cyber-bullying is mainly a problem among teenagers, children as young as seven being bullied via technology.

“Cyber-bullying is an issue among primary-school children. Younger and younger children are using technology, such as the internet, and have mobile phones,” she said.

“Reports of children in the age bracket of nine to 11 being bullied on the internet or over a mobile phone is more common, but there are isolated cases of seven- and eight-year-old children in Ireland being victims of cyber-bullying.

“Cyber-bullying is more difficult to detect it than traditional bullying, as you don’t know who is doing it.

“Also, it can happen any time of the day and night.”

The death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince in January 2010, who committed suicide after being bullied online and in person, is the subject of a TV3 documentary tonight. Phoebe lived in Clare between 1996 and 2009, and was bullied at her school in Limerick.

When she moved to America with her mother and siblings, the bullying continued at her new school, leading to her suicide. Parents accused school administrators of ignoring reports of bullying there, something they deny. Nonetheless, the incident led the state of Massachusetts to enact strict anti-bullying legislation.

Ms Lynch urged parents to be vigilant and supervise children’s use of the internet and mobile phones.

“The message given to teenagers using the internet is to keep themselves safe, but when it comes to primary school children it is an issue of parenting,” said Ms Lynch.

“If young children are using the internet there should be a high level of supervision.

“Facebook have a rule that children under 13 should not use their site but there are hundreds of children below this age using it.

“If parents are allowing young children to use social networking sites, they must be vigilant and supervise their kids’ activity.

“The challenges in the real world are also in the virtual world — young children are not mature enough to manage certain situations. There is also the issue of bullying over the mobile phone, so buying a young child a mobile phone should be a big deal.

“And mobile phones for children do not need the internet or a camera.”