The Diana Award – Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme Research Summary

Cyberbullying: How safe are our children?

A poll of 8-22 year olds from the United Kingdom, during August 2013 This document is intended to provide the headline findings of snapshot poll looking at bullying online and going back to school. Introduction The research was carried out by the Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme. It consisted of: one short survey, in the week of Friday 24th-Friday 31st August 2013. In total, it encompassed the views of 834 young people in the United Kingdom aged 8-22 years old (school, college and university students). It aimed to:

• Provide a clearer understanding of bullying as an issue for young people • Help us understand the fears and concerns for young people returning to full time education • Helps us shape and strengthen Anti-Bullying approaches in schools.

Key findings:

• 81% of young people think that cyber bullying is getting worse. • One in four young people report that one of their friends has been bullied online during the

summer holiday. • 71% have experienced bullying at their school, college or university • 28% would not tell someone if they were being bullied • 38% believe their school, college or university doesn’t take bullying seriously • 41% say their school, college or university doesn’t teach them about online safety • 36% are worried about being bullied at their school, college or university

Our thoughts: “Many parents will be sending their children to school next week still unaware of the dangers that they face online both at school and in the safety of their own home. This research clearly shows that more needs to be done to protect children from cyber bullying. That is something we all have a responsibility to do.” More about the Diana Award Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme: The Diana Award runs the peer-led Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme in schools and communities across England. There are currently 5000 Ambassadors that are trained to develop a range of preventative measures to keep their peers safe, this includes delivering online safety techniques to parents, rewriting school’s acceptable ICT policy, behaviour management campaigns such as ‘Smile’ and ‘Compliment Days’, drop-in support sessions and anti-bullying patrols around their playground.