Cape Town – During this anti-bullying week, the country turns its attention to cyberbullying as a recent report by Ipsos Global showed South Africa had the highest prevalence of this kind of bullying among teenagers based on research in 28 countries.
Anti-bullying week, observed from November 11 to 15, aims to raise awareness around bullying among children, especially in schools.
The report showed that more than 80% of South Africans said they were aware of cyberbullying and almost three-quarters of South Africans believed that the anti-bullying measures in place are insufficient.
A Vodafone survey from last year ranked South Africa fourth for teen cyberbullying out of 13 countries, and Dean McCoubrey, founder of My-
SociaLife, a South African in-school digital life skills programme, said it was likely even more prevalent, based on student feedback.
“The challenge with cyberbullying is that parents can’t permanently monitor their child’s devices,” said McCoubrey.
“Parents and teachers need specifics - not just the broad term of ‘cyberbullying’ - as this is a broad and elusive form of ‘warfare’ on these devices - and parents will definitely find it difficult to track or understand what’s actually going on.”
McCoubrey advised parents and children to record cyberbullying by taking screenshots.
He also advised not to react to what the bully wants, saying children should remove themselves from groups and seek the support of their parents.
“Parents and teachers can use Anti-Bullying Week to make children aware that it’s everyone’s responsibility to make the online and real-life worlds a safe place.
“Anyone can be an upstander by reporting a bully, flagging a cruel comment, or even just choosing not to forward or share cyberbullying content.
"Doing so will stop a cyberbullying episode from escalating and will reduce or even remove the bully’s power,” McCoubrey said.