The number of children in Nottingham needing counselling for cyber-bullying has more than doubled in three years.
From April 2015 to March 2016, 401 face-to-face counselling sessions took place at Childline’s Old Basford office, up from 159 from April 2012 to March 2013.
Childline is the NSPCC’s 24-hour help service for children facing bullying or abuse.
And the NSPCC’s annual report, out today, shows a national increase of 88 percent for Childline counselling about online bullying.
Counsellors have had children as young as seven tell them they feel unable to escape from hurtful and abusive messages.
In a quarter of the sessions, children and young people were also counselled for low self-esteem, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and depression.
One girl told Childline: “Every day I wake up scared to go to school, scared about the comments people will make and scared about walking home.
“Then I get in and log onto my social networking site and there are horrible messages everywhere.
“It’s like there is no escaping the bullies, I’m struggling to cope with how upset I feel so sometimes I cut myself just to have a release but it’s not enough.
“I can’t go on like this.”
How to get help: What children facing abuse can do
- Tell an adult you can trust
- Keep a diary of what the bullies do including dates and descriptions
- Write a letter to your Headteacher
- Don’t react, show the bullies you don’t care and they will often lose interest
Comments posted on social media profiles, blogs and online pictures ranged from bullying and abusive words about a child’s appearance to death threats and direct instructions to go and kill themselves.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC said: “Online bullying is one of the biggest child protection challenges of this generation.
“Years ago a child could escape their bullies when they left the playground and get some respite in the safety of their home, now the 24/7 nature of the internet means that a child can be targeted round the clock.”
From April 2015 to March 2016, there were 1,420 counselling sessions with young people who specifically mentioned being bullied on a gaming or social network site.
The NSPCC is working with the Royal Foundation Cyber-bullying Taskforce to develop protection online for children.
A forum for discussion about online bullying on the Childline website received more than 11,000 posts last year.
November 14 to 18 is national Anti-Bullying Week, encouraging children and teachers to act to combat the problem.
