'Slips' and embarrassing pics: How we deal with online abuse

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Yaseen, Asha, Memunatu and Brayani

Meet Yaseen, Asha, Memunatu and Brayani - they are all aged 16, they go to college in east London and they are pretty chilled out about dealing with abuse when it's shared on mobile phones and social media. But that doesn't mean they think it's ok.

They've been talking to Newsbeat about stuff like "slips" - embarrassing pics shared behind a person's back - and how to handle online bullying.

Half of those questioned suggested they had done something "risky" or anti-social on the web.

We checked out the key findings with our panel.

More than half feel pressure from others

"There's been loads of times when there's been a picture trending of a person I may or may not know, and it's like 'pass it on!'" Memunatu says.

"[It could be] nudes.... just embarrassing pictures that the person themselves would not share."

'Slips'

"Those kind of pictures are referred to as "slips"... when you take a picture of someone, without their consent," she explains.

"They're usually posted on Facebook or Snapchat, and then people share them with their friends, and make fun of it."

Negative behaviour online - a boy thing?

Yaseen admits to sharing things he later thinks he shouldn't have.

"When I see other people joining in, if everyone in the class is picking on the same guy, I start feeling guilty because it could be me that posted the picture."

Brayani reckons there is a broader problem.

"I'm not saying all boys are like this but the majority do like involving themselves in negative behaviour like ganging up, or just huddling and beating up one guy."

Memunatu agrees: "There are videos on YouTube of people you know, fighting one person and they think it's cool, they think it's hip."

But Yaseen is quick to point girls have their own brand of online pressure.

"Just because you don't see girls beating up other people...

"I think girls do it to, but just in a different way," Brayani says.

"For example if they want to say something to someone's face, they would instead post Facebook statuses, or try and post pictures of their [the victim's] selfies and edit them."

A pretty big slice of those polled (83%) felt that reporting online bullying to a trusted adult helped solve the problem.

What the college says

A spokesperson for Newham Sixth Form College, where the four teenagers attend, told Newsbeat: "In line with the aims of Safer Internet Day, Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) recognises that students' use of the internet is an important part of their education but that there are risks of harm associated with its use.

"Our safeguarding policy addresses how we minimise those risks in college and we teach students how to stay safe when using the internet."

And for more on online pressures you can listen to Radio 1 Stories: Anti-Social Media tonight at 21:00 GMT.

Radio 1 has linked up with YouthNet to host an hour of live advice on how to deal with online bullying between 10-11pm every night (Mon-Thurs) and there's help at BBC Advice.

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