It's estimated that someone in the country is bullied every seven seconds and now modern technology has given rise to a new form of bullying; e-mails and mobile phones mean you can be found wherever you are.
 | | Robyn is a victim of Cyber bullying |
Robyn from Catterick is 16 and a victim of this cyber bullying. She fell out with her friend and says his cousin began bombarding her with texts, "She was texting me all these horrible messages like 'I hate you' and 'I am going to get you one day.'" “Not safe in your own home” She says it was a terrifying experience: “I was petrified and I hid inside because I didn't know what to do. Even if I did hide inside, she could still speak to me on my computer. You get all these messages and you are in your own home as well, a safe place but you are not safe because you have got someone texting you.” Robyn had to change her phone several times so that she no longer received the messages. Growing problem | "She was texting me all these horrible messages like "I hate you" and "I am going to get you one day"" | |
More often than not the people doing the bullying are girls and the subject matter is boys. The problem is growing across the whole country with more young people having access to computers, using instant messaging, and more of them having mobile phones. Val McFarlane from the North East Anti-Bullying Alliance says that with primary school pupils having a mobile phone, cyber bullying is happening at an even younger age. “At first, I thought it was a joke” When it happened to Richard Parker who has cerebral palsy, he initially believed it was a joke. He was getting up to ten texts a day from a withheld number, “I think one of the lines was about murder, death that kind of thing. I'd been bullied at school but never this close. Never this close to home.” Criminal offence Police say bullying like this is a criminal offence and they can gather evidence with the support of phone service providers. PC Gary Lewis of North Yorkshire police says “We have prosecuted young people and adults in the past and shown they were the sender of abusive messages. In the same way you would use an exhibit of a letter we can use an exhibit of a phone record, even if the phone no longer exists and even if the sim card has gone.” What you can do The North East Anti-Bullying Alliance recognises that it can be difficult for parents. Val McFarlane's advice is for parents to make sure you know what your child is doing on the computer and to encourage your child to talk to you about how they use their mobile phone. They also advise young people not to give out any information about yourself such as your phone number and address, unless you know and trust the caller. | 
