11^th Feb 2025 

                                                                                             

 

PCC’s survey shows a third of youngsters have been bullied online.

 

Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has revealed some sobering statistics about online bullying and social media. According to his Youth and Parent Surveys, held at the end of last year, nearly 34% of primary children and 29% of secondary pupils have been bullied or picked on online. 

 

What’s more 16% of secondary students and 14% of primary children admitted they had bullied, picked on or been mean to someone else online.  When we asked this question in 2023 only 11.5% of youngsters said they’d done this. 

 

Of those who’d been bullied only 46% of secondary students and 57% of primary pupils told their parents or guardians: 30% of secondary and 21% of primary children said they’d hadn’t told anyone.  

 

This contradicts what parents said with only about 20% of parents believing their child has been bullied or picked on online, and 86% of the adults thinking their child had told them about the incident.  

 

What’s more 16% of secondary students and 14% of primary children admitted they had bullied or picked on or been mean to someone else online.  When we asked this question in 2023 only 11.5% of youngsters said they’d done this. 

 

When we asked whether the youngsters stopped using the platform on which they’d been bullied or picked on, nearly a quarter of parents believe they did, whereas 90% of primary and 85% of secondary students told us they continue to use the apps. 

 

Young people told us they’re on their devices about an hour longer each day than their parents believe.  More than 20% of them are online before 7am and 10% of primary and 21% of secondary students online after 11pm. 

 

Smartphone free schools 

 

Over 60% of children reported bans or restrictions by their schools, with many schools now only allowing pupils to use their devices at break times.  

 

However, support for such a policy differs greatly between parents and children. 80% of parents say they’d support a ban if it improved behaviour or results, whereas only 30% of secondary and 56% of primary pupils said the same.  We also asked secondary pupils whether they thought social media had made their life better or worse and most (56%) said it had done neither, with just over 10% saying it had made their lives worse.  

 

Parental monitoring 

 

On the whole parents told us they are monitoring at least some of their child’s online behaviour, with only 3% placing no restrictions.  28% of parents admitted they didn’t know everything about their online activities, but the young people’s answers suggest they do keep their parents quite well informed and just a small percentage are deliberately hiding things from them (4% of secondary and 5.5% of primary). 

 

Matthew Scott,

“It is more important now than ever that we talk about the problems that social media, smartphones and online bullying are causing to young people. We need to support schools in implementing smartphone policies in schools but also educate parents about the risks of giving them to their children whilst they are still too young. 

 

I will continue to raise awareness of this problem with pupils, parents and teachers, and call on social media companies and smartphone manufacturers to act more ethically in dealing with this – or face tougher legislation.” 

 

Gabrielle Grant, Whitstable Unplugged said,

"Smartphones can have a huge negative impact on our children's mental health, learning and wellbeing, this survey shows that parents want to urgently address these issues. Whilst many schools have smartphone policies, they often aren't implemented strictly which means children are still using them within the school day. We urge parents to talk to their schools about this critical issue and consider delaying introducing smartphones until the age of 16."  

 

 

The three anonymous surveys were distributed through Kent schools towards the end of 2024. 3476 parents, 2237 secondary students and 1446 primary children completed them.  Questions were also asked about smartphone ownership, app preference, and notifications. 

 

You can read the whole report on our website:  Public consultations  

 

ENDS 

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Note to editors: 

 

Our previous Youth Survey was conducted in 2023. You can read the results of that on our website too. Click on this link Public consultations and scroll down to find Youth Survey 2023. 

 

If you would like to contact Whitstable Unplugged, please contact the press office and we will put you in touch.  

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