Parents need to protect children from cyberbullying, says CSIR

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have urged the adults to play an active role in protecting young people from cyberbullying.

The CSIR defines cyberbullying as ‘’the use of electronic communication by one party to: harass, threaten, intimidate, humiliate and stalk the other.’’

According to the organisation, one in three parents globally has reported that their child was bullied online.

In 2018, 54% of South African parents reported that they knew of a child who was cyberbullied.

Senior researcher at CSIR, Sipho Ngobeni, cited examples of the recent incident involving Limpopo pupil, Lufuno Mavhunga who committed suicide after she was filmed being bullied and assaulted by another school girl.

Other pupils watched on and laughed as Mavhunga was repeatedly slapped outside the premises of the Mbilwi Secondary School.

According to the research shared with the media, Instagram accounts for 42% of bullying that occurs online, while Facebook accounts for 37%, 31% occurs on Snapchat, 12% on WhatsApp, 10% on YouTube and 9% on Twitter.

Statistics show that about 41% of kids develop social anxiety after being bullied, 37% develop depression, 26% have suicidal thoughts, 25% engage in self-harm, 24% stop using social media altogether, 20% start skipping classes, 14% develop eating disorder while 9% begin to abuse alcohol and drugs.

“In addition, educators do not know when and how to intervene in online behaviours that occur away from school, but still involve their learners. Law enforcement is often also hesitant to get involved, unless there is clear evidence,” Ngobeni said.

The CSIR advises parents to reinforce positive morals and values, and educate their children about appropriate online behaviour, such as the use of account privacy settings, reporting the matter to the police and providing unconditional support to their children should they experience cyberbullying.

 

 PICTURE: CSIR

Done By: Mitchum George