There has been increased coverage of cyber bullying in the media recently. How large a problem is cyber bullying? Is it really growing as fast as the media seem to suggest?
When the tragic deaths of young people such as Hannah Smith and Daniel Perry hit the headlines, the spotlight is rightly focused on social networking sites and how bad they are and what can be done to prevent further deaths. Because of the publicity, it appears that all of a sudden social media has become a problem, yet the truth is that concerns about young people inappropriately using social networking sites have never gone away. Schools can vouch for this in the increased number of incidents they deal with; almost always at the centre of bullying incidents is a social network site or messaging service such as Ask.fm. As was the case in the summer with Ask.fm, there was a public outcry to get the site closed down, but this is not the answer. Whilst publicity about messaging services pushes for stricter monitoring and moderation and to take more responsibility for the care of its primarily young users, educating young people about their behaviour online is vital in driving home the message about safer use…