Over 25 per cent of primary school children aged 8 to 12, and 40 per cent of secondary school children aged 12-16, have experienced cyberbullying in the last school year.
Girls are also more likely to be victimised online than boys, at 43 per cent versus 30 per cent.
Almost a third, or 31 per cent, of 8 to 12 year olds are allowed online whenever they want, with 93 per cent of that age group owning their own smart device and 84 per cent having their own social media or instant messaging account.
YouTube is the most popular app among children, with 76 per cent reporting that they use it. This is followed by WhatsApp, at 39 per cent, and Tik Tok and Snapchat, which are both at 37 per cent.
There were also a couple of instances of OnlyFans usage among 8-12 year olds. This is an 18+ subscription service which is often, but not solely, associated with creation of adult content.
The new figures are according to CyberSafeKids’ Annual Trends and Usage report, which was published on Tuesday.
CyberSafeKids, a national online safety charity provides expert guidance to primary and secondary schools, surveyed over 5,000 children aged from 8 and 16 years of age between September 2022 and June 2023.
Almost two-thirds of teachers, or 62 per cent, dealt with online safety incidents, the report also said, while 74 per cent of teachers said that online safety was a significant issue in their school.
Young girls are more likely to post videos of themselves online than young boys, at 26 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, but boys were more likely than girls to play over-18 games such as Call of Duty and Grant Theft Auto, at 26 per cent versus six per cent.
Posting pictures without permission, the creation of fake profiles, and being excluded from group chats were amongst the commonly reported forms of cyberbullying behaviour.
Some 28 per cent of younger children and 34 per cent of older children reported not telling anyone about being cyberbullied.
Over two fifths of young boys, or 42 per cent, reported gaming with a stranger online.
Young children are also unaware of how to protect themselves online, according to the report, which states that 22 per cent of children aged 8-12 years old post videos, and 17 per cent unaware of how to manage privacy settings.
Over a quarter of all children surveyed had seen or experienced something online in the last year that “bothered” them, which was defined as having scared them, upset them, or made them wish they had not seen it, such as sexual or violent content.
Almost half of the younger children, or 46 per cent, and 67 per cent of older children, did not tell a parent or trusted adult about this.
In one incident reported by a primary school principal, a group set up by 15 boys in sixth class was sharing porn and images and a video of a toddler being abused by an adult on one of the popular apps. This came to the attention of two parents who then informed the principal.
The report stated that gardaí should be informed in this instance as there was a child victim involved and possession and sharing of such imagery is illegal.
Critical issue
Alex Cooney, chief executive of CyberSafeKids, said that online safety for children remains a “critical issue that is not being sufficiently addressed in Ireland’s education system or by the social media companies whose platforms are being used.
“Our data shows children are extremely active on social media, often unsupervised, leaving them highly vulnerable to bullying, grooming, and exposure to violent or sexual content,” Mr Cooney said.
“We’ve been reporting on these patterns for the past seven years, but not enough is being done. We urge the Government to invest heavily in more resources and campaigns to support both parents and educators.”
She told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 that it is important that children know how to stay safe online.
“When we are sending them out in to these online spaces without adequate preparation we are essentially failing them. We must prepare them. We must equip them. We need to do that through education. We need to do that through parenting.
“And we need the Government to row in behind them. We need them to really seriously address this issue and invest in educational support for children.
“Every child between the age of six and sixteen should be educated about how to be safe and smart online.”
Ms Cooney said children are being bullied as they use their tablets, smartphone and game consoles.
“It is rarely happening on a computer. The reality is that children are using tablets, games consoles and then smart phones as they get to 11 or 12. It is very pervasive as they carry those devices around with them.”
Carmel Hume, principal of Presentation Primary School in Terenure, said that the report confirms the findings of the schools’ teachers.
“Children feel disempowered by social media, especially in large group chats. They are afraid to leave a group, and afraid to speak up if they see others being ridiculed,” Ms Hume said.
“Negative commentary online has become normalised and the nuances of face-to-face communication and engagements are being lost.”
A small number of older children who participated in the survey identified as non-binary. The report states that this group of children had more negative experiences online than any other communities.
Almost three-quarters said they had been cyberbullied and 63 per cent had seen or experienced something that bothered them online.
Meanwhile, Minister of State Ossian Smyth has told Morning Ireland on RTE Radio 1 that he supports an outright ban on mobile phone usage among students while they are in the grounds of their primary schools. However, he says it is at the discretion of individual schools to adopt this approach.
“We have given anti-bullying guidelines to schools. Each school is meant to draw up their anti-bullying charter. But I think each school should have the power to make their own decisions in consultation with the parents.”
Minister Smyth accepted that the Government has a “responsibility” to protect children from cyberbullying.
“That is why the Online Safety Commissioner has been appointed. Legislation to allow for the regulation of social media companies was passed by my colleague Catherine Martin, Minister for Media, and it is important.
“Ireland has a critical role. Social media companies are based in Ireland. These companies which have hundreds of millions of users are here and it is our job to regulate.”
