The survey of first years in Coláiste Íosagáin, Portarlington has shown that the use of social networking sites is common among younger students and many of them have witnessed cyberbulling online.
The survey was conducted by a group of Transition Year students as part of their project on cyber bullying. They surveyed 139 first year students aged between 12 and 13.
It showed that the use of technology like mobile phones and computers to communicate with their friends and family is common among early teens.
More than 90 first years text on a regular baswhile 83 have an active Facebook account.
The survey revaled that that anonymous web sites such as Ask.fm and Spillit.me are increasingly popular among younger students. A total of 42 pupils use Ask.fm. It allows other people to post anonymous and sometimes hurtful comments on their Facebook or Twitter page.
One third of these students said that they witness cyber bullying “very often.
This confirmed many of the TY students’ suspicions that the problem of cyber bullying was becoming more common among younger students.
When asked the question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad do you think cyber bullying is today?” two thirds them answered 9 or 10 which proved that not only do many First Year students witness cyber bullying regularly, but are also aware that it is a big problem.
The TY class presented the findings of their survey to their fellow students during assemblies before Christmas