Almost one child in six is cyberbullied: WHO Europe

Some 16 percent of children aged 11 to 15 were cyberbullied in 2022, up from 13 percent four years ago, a WHO Europe report covering 44 countries said...

Some 16 percent of children aged 11 to 15 were cyberbullied in 2022, up from 13 percent four years ago, a WHO Europe report covering 44 countries said on Wednesday.

"This report is a wake-up call for all of us to address bullying and violence, whenever and wherever it happens," WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement.

Fifteen percent of boys and 16 percent of girls reported being cyberbullied at least once in recent months, according to the study, entitled "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children".

The UN agency noted that the pandemic has changed the way adolescents behave towards each other.

"Virtual forms of peer violence have become particularly relevant since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when young people's worlds became increasingly virtual during times of lockdown," the report said.