41% of teenagers have been cyber-bullied on their handset
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While the survey showed that 41% of teens are the victims of cyber-bullying, 25% of those victims are actually the cyber-bullies themselves. One way to prevent getting into such trouble is for teens to use their cell phones less. The study revealed that the more that these youngsters use their handset, the more problems it creates. Using 1,800 texts per month as the benchmark for a heavy teen cell phone use, Openet found that 23% of teens crossed that threshold. And of those heavy cell phone users, 46% experienced cyber-bullying as opposed to the 23% of normal cell phone users who were bullied via their phone.
A couple of myths were dispelled by the survey. Parents will be happy to hear that only 1% of teens engage in sexting, despite the huge publicity that this behavior has received by the media. Last summer, another poll revealed that 4 out of 5 college students had engaged in the practice. With the large number of teens giving their thumbs a workout daily on a real or virtual QWERTY keyboard, the idea that the sexting craze was large and out of control is simply wrong. Sure, it makes for a great Lifetime movie, but it is not an epidemic, The other myth shot down is that cyber-bullying is out of control on social networks. The truth, according to the survey, is that social networks have nothing to do with this. Cyber-bullying is happening, but it is happening on phones. With text messages going back and forth between teens at a dizzying rate, that is the forum where the cyber-bullying is taking place. Parents need to know that just because your kid isn't using Facebook or Twitter doesn't make them impervious to getting bullied on their phone.
Finally, heavy users do things with their phones that are not appropriate according to Openet. 94% of teens say they are on their phones at night when they should be sleeping vs. 70% of lighter users. 74% of the heavy users are playing with their handset in class versus only 41% of regular users.
source: Openet via Read, Write, Web
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20 Comments
3. kshell1 posted on 31 Jan 2012, 06:06 1 1
im 15 and i get bullied during school&on my phone (facebook) so i can say this is true >.>
4. itiswhatitis posted on 31 Jan 2012, 08:11 1 0
best defence is offence !!!Use that so people stop bullying you!!I know this because i was the biggest bully during highschool years and well even in junior high,I feel bad about it now but well its so addictive and had that feel-good but now i realised how my victims would have felt....
13. jellytime posted on 31 Jan 2012, 13:46 0 0
I usually make things like these to a joke.
Example someone writes a message that I look like a ugly horse
then i answer with something like (ride me)
we both get a good laugh when we meet later
And I know it sounds *** but that is just an example.
12. 530gemini posted on 31 Jan 2012, 13:42 0 1
I don't like bullies. That's why I don't like fandroids :)
6. jmoita2 posted on 31 Jan 2012, 10:18 2 0
Just download the CyberJudo app and you will be all right...lol
7. squallz506 posted on 31 Jan 2012, 11:06 0 0
i wonder when kids will steal lunch money with the SQUARE dongle.
8. swoda posted on 31 Jan 2012, 12:40 0 2
Good article. Thanks for sharing. The metrics you describe are pretty amazing.
When we were kids, the bullying stopped when we left the playground. Today's kids have to deal with bullying 24/7 because they are connected 24/7. The average kid today sends or receives almost 4,000 text messages per month (Nielsen), and they are online 1 in every 4 waking hours. 80% of kids say that they sleep with their mobile phones so that they won't miss any important messages.
I highly recommend that parents consider using a parental intelligence tool such as uKnowKids (http://www.uknowkids.com).
Parental intelligence tools are designed to help parents keep their kids safe from bad guys and bullies online and on the mobile phone by enabling parents to stay actively engaged in their kids' digital world. uKnowKids has a free version of its service, and so parents can try the service out for free.
Full disclosure... I am the CEO of uKnow.com... the company that powers uKnowKids.
I hope this is helpful to your readers. Stay safe everyone!
11. m.garz posted on 31 Jan 2012, 13:42 1 0
better be careful not to bully Chuck Norris's son.. lol
14. johnDOO posted on 31 Jan 2012, 14:36 0 0
if anyone allows them to "bully" r tell them to kill themselves r do themselves harm over a computer r smartphone they r SOFTTT..
15. johnDOO posted on 31 Jan 2012, 14:37 0 0
where are the paretns giving kids self esteem.....We have turrned into wimpy ppl...why would i let someone bully me and were not even FACE TO FACE come on u cant b serious...and fight back
17. aztaxia12295 posted on 31 Jan 2012, 15:11 0 0
lol cyber bullying makes you look like a total pussy
18. thephoneguy92 posted on 31 Jan 2012, 15:54 0 0
I am shocked that kids aren't typing out angry letters on type writers, and instead using cell phones! Or wait, no.
19. Baseballer posted on 31 Jan 2012, 15:56 0 0
i know alot of people that sext..... so idk if 1% is accurate
