Online bullying
Resources, guidance and information for education practitioners, learners, and families on online bullying.
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What you need to know
Online bullying is bullying using technology or online services or platforms, e.g. gaming, social media, messaging services, forums and chatrooms. Online bullying can include threatening behaviour, abuse, harassment, shaming, exclusion, identify theft, malicious damage, non-consensual sharing of images or videos and coercion.
With the emergence of generative AI it is important to be aware how this can contribute to online bullying, both in general and targeted ways. Tools may be misused to generate upsetting messages or images aimed at peers or sometimes AI chatbots.
Bullying may target someone’s appearance, their sexuality, a disability, their culture, religion, social status and other characteristics. It can impact the health, well-being and self-confidence children and young people causing them to become more withdrawn, stressed and anxious.
Welsh Government guidance
Challenging bullying
Guidance and services to help schools, local authorities, children and parents and carers deal with bullying.
Understanding when behaviour crosses the line
Banter can be described as a good humoured and friendly exchange of teasing remarks.
We all engage in a bit of ‘banter’ with our friends from time to time, but sometimes it can go too far and quickly moves from being friendly playful fun, to offensive and personal. It can be so subtle that people don’t always realise when their behaviour has developed into online bullying.
Those who make the comments might believe that what they are saying is a joke when they are actually causing unintended hurt.
Remember to think about the people you’re ‘bantering’ with before you post. Would it be funny if they said the same things to you?
