Cyberbullying still a big problem for teens

Cyber bullying is still a big problem in the Netherlands. Nearly 8 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 years old were affected by cyber bullying last year. Two thirds of these young people know the person bullying them. This is according to figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Monday. More than 400 thousand people aged 15 and older indicated that they were bullied online in 2014. About 11 percent of teenagers between 15 and 18 years old were faced with cyber bullying, and 5 percent of young people between the ages of 21 and 25 years. One percent of seniors indicated that they were confronted by cyber bullying last year. The most common form of cyber bullying among teens is slander, for example posting offensive texts, photos or videos on social networking sites or forums. Nearly 5 percent of teenagers between 15 and 18 years old reported having to deal with this type of online bullying. That is nearly 2.5 percent more often than in the group of 21 to 25 year olds. Other forms of cyber bullying mentioned are stalking and threats of violence. Blackmail was the least mentioned form of online bullying. Two thirds of the young people between the ages of 15 and 25 years old indicated that they know the person bullying them. In one in five of the cases the perpetrator is a fellow student or colleague. In nearly 29 percent of the cases, the perpetrator is someone the victim knows well, like a friend or acquaintance. About 14 percent of the young victims reported the cyber bullying to the police or other authority. Almost 4 percent of them actually pressed chargers.