A 17-year-old Nottinghamshire girl has spoken of her terror as she was targeted by online cyber bullies who threatened her using social media.
Her story comes as Nottinghamshire County Council asks parents to be more aware of how vulnerable children can be online.
A study by the authority shows incidents of cyber bullying are falling across Nottinghamshire – but the problem is still common with around one in five children saying they have been targeted.
The 17-year-old girl from Broxtowe, who asked to remain anonymous, says her experiences started for no apparent reason.
Nobody would take it seriously
She said: “They were stalking me through social media making death threats to me saying they’re going to stab me and that they know where I live and stuff like that.
“I still have no idea why it started.”
She believes more needs to be done to support young people who are victims and to prevent bullying from starting in the first place.
She said: “My case has never really been resolved.”
The girl’s bullies intimidated her through their public profiles, but cyber-bullies often use fake accounts in order to hide their identities.
She said: “They claimed that a ‘friend’ had given them information about me but I don’t believe them.
“I felt intimidated to go to college because I had no idea who these people were and they could come from anywhere.
“I received no support, nobody would take it seriously despite people making threats to my life and if they were actually being serious then it could have been very dangerous for me.”
According to the survey by Nottinghamshire County Council, 21 per cent of Notts young people have been bullied over the internet – a slight fall compared with two years ago.
Councillor John Peck, committee chairman for children and young people’s services, said: “The findings also show us that there are too many young people who do tell someone what has happened and the situation either remains the same or worsens.
“This highlights the need for greater awareness amongst parents about how they should respond where their children experience online bullying.
“The survey also showed reluctance amongst parents to try to limit their children’s time online with only a little more than half checking games ratings for suitability.”
Nottinghamshire County Council has an online guide to preventing bullying over the internet.
