According to data from 2018, every 5th child aged 7-12 in Hungary already registered to a social media page, and 23% of children aged 10-18 was victim of online bullying. Because not everyone can recognize that s/he was a victim of bullying, it is necessary that youth and also the parents to be clear how to use the internet safely.
Youths born between 1995-2010 are using Instagram, Smapchat or TikTok mainly because of the picture and video sharing features. Cyberbullying on these pages can occur any time, because it is very easy to take and share offensive, humiliating pictures of others.
The word bullying already a naturalized concept in the Hungarian language too, includes terrorizing, violence, repression, threats, coercion, harassment and not just online but offline harassment.
According to Krisztina Könyves, a psychologist at the Hintalovon Children's Rights Foundation, a campaign expert at the Magyar Telekom Action Network, online roles are often mixed, with the majority of children being perpetrators and victims too.
Aside from cyberbullying, sexting and grooming is also threatening young people. Sexting is the sending of sexual, implicit content mostly through Snapchat, while grooming is “when an adult, using deliberate methods to gain the trust of young users for sexual exploitation”-highlighted the expert.
This is why it is very important to prepare the children to use the internet in a safe way, and also it is indispensable to have a person of trust around them.
Read more about how to use the internet safely in the article!