Cyber-bullying rife but short-lived

Researchers from the University of Valencia have been looking into the incidence of bullying via mobile phones and the internet. They surveyed 2,101 teenagers between the ages of 11 and 17. 24.6% of them had been bullied via their mobile and 29% via the internet. In most cases the bullying lasted for less than a month but in 4% of cases it lasted between three and six month, and in 3% more than a year. Younger children were more likely to experience bullying via this method than older ones and girls likelier than boys. The bullying often took the form of invasions of privacy, spreading of rumours, and social exclusion.