Cyberbullying in spotlight amid proposed social media ban
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As workers dressed in an array of salmon- and rose-coloured outfits stream into offices nationwide on Friday to mark Pink Shirt Day, advocacy groups are calling for greater protections to be put in place to guard against cyberbullying.
The calls come amid a recent proposal by the National Party to ban social media for users younger than 16.
Brent Carey, chief executive of Netsafe, said the online safety organisation had received more than 2000 reports of online harassment in the past year.
"Over two-thirds of those affected were women and 37 percent were aged 21 or younger," he said.
"Reports from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) highlight that New Zealand continues to experience the highest rates of bullying among OECD countries, with 15 percent of students reporting frequent bullying."
Brent Carey
Photo:
Supplied
Netsafe's research estimates the societal cost of cyberbullying in New Zealand has risen to $1.071 billion annually, Carey said.
Cyberbullying takes place when individuals use the internet to harass, intimidate or target others, according to the organisation's website.
"It can take place over various platforms such as social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms and through email or texts," it said.
Online bullying can include derogatory messages and name calling, repeated unwanted online contact, spreading rumours, sharing embarrassing pictures or videos, or creating fake profiles to impersonate someone, it said.
Photo:
Supplied
Kelly Feng
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Supplied
Kelly Feng, chief executive at Asian Family Services, said online bullying was a growing concern for Asian users, including international students and school children.
"We normally get phone calls from parents who have concerns about their children being called different names ... or being bullied ... at school," Feng said.
"They normally don't want to make a formal complaint but just want to find out more information on how they can get some help."
Feng said migrant parents did not typically have the confidence to talk to schools directly, and they were often reluctant to make a formal complaint because they worried about retaliation or stigma.
"They don't really know how a [school] counsellor works," Feng said, adding that even less knew that culturally appropriate counsellors were sometimes available.
An
2023 Education Review Office report
said one in five children from ethnic backgrounds experienced bullying at school.
Feng said targeted research like this was needed to keep track of trends.
In addition, better education on bullying for parents and children, better support at school and culturally appropriate services were needed, she said.
"Currently, it's quite a broken system," she said. "I guess they're just not really connecting the dots."
Feng encouraged parents to listen to their children and validate their feelings, communicate with and seek help from schools, and report the incident to Netsafe or the police if necessary.
Bullying was associated with an increased risk of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, academic struggles and social isolation, she said.
"Seek professional help," Feng said, recommending students who were being bullied to talk to a school counsellor, GP or psychologist.
"You want to solve some of those issues early [so that you] don't have that long-term impact."
Feng said social media could be challenging for a lot of parents and they should try to educate themselves.
"There's often parenting programs and other parenting talks on how to manage children and young people's screen time or online space," Feng said.
"Don't blame yourself if you don't know because ... there are a lot of people who don't know as well so you're not alone.
"Just keep learning the right information and go to the right resource to get information and ... seek help."
In 2015, New Zealand introduced the Harmful Digital Communications Act to prevent and reduce the impact of online bullying, harassment, revenge porn and other forms of abuse and intimidation.
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
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