A new report out this week indicates that a phenomenon known as digital bullying, or “cyber bullying” is on the rise.

According to British children’s charity NCH, “Text bullying is when someone abuses or threatens you by text, and it’s just as bad as them doing it at school or in the street. And because there’s loads you can do with mobiles and PCs now – like checking emails on your mobile, picture messages and online chat – someone could also use those to bully you through your mobile or PC.”

Now, Aunty is not sure that she buys that it is “just as bad as them doing it at school or in the street”, where you can suffer..you know ..physical harm. But there is no doubt that it is bad, and emotionally traumatic.

According to a study conducted by NCH, fully 25% of 11-19 year olds in the UK has been “bullied or threatened via their mobile phone or PC”, and 16% of young people surveyed said that they’d received a threatening or “bullying” text message.

NCH also has a site where they discuss ways to deal with text bullying, which include “keep telling yourself ‘This bullying is wrong, it’s not my fault and I’m not putting up with it!'”, “Talk to a friend you really trust – just getting it off your chest will make you feel loads better. But tell an adult too!”, “Never reply to the bully or send an even nastier message back. It proves they really got to you, and that’s just what they want
and “Remember that it’s not just happening to you – one in five 11 to 19 year olds have been bullied or threatened by their mobile or PC.”

All decent enough suggestions, but hey, what about just turning the device off, eh?

[Yes, Aunty noticed the 25% versus “one in five” discrepancy too.]