India Ranks Third in Cyber Bullying


Bangalore: India ranks third in cyber bullying. China and Singapore take the first and second position respectively, according to a new Global Youth Online Behaviour Survey released by Microsoft. Over half (53 percent) of children in India have been bullied online says the survey.

The Cyber bullying Research Centre in the U.S. says cyber bullying is “wilful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices,” as reported by Business Line.

The report puts India third on the list behind China (70 percent) and Singapore (58 percent), stressing on the need to increase education about online behavior in India amongst all stakeholders.

The survey was conducted in 25 countries between January 11 and February 19, among more than 7,600 children of ages 8 to 17, and focused on how kids are treating one another online and whether parents are addressing online behaviors. The children were asked whether somebody was unfriendly or mean towards them on the Internet or if other children had made fun or teased them.

Globally, the survey also revealed that children want to talk to parents about the issue, but only 29 percent of kids say their parents have talked to them about protecting themselves online. Further, according to the results, there is not one common step taken by parents to address the problem, with only 17 percent having communicated a clear set of rules for negative online behaviors.