Czech children warned of cyber bullying
1.5 million flyers will be distributed at Czech schools at the beginning of the school year, warning of harassment through SMS messages and the Internet, Ivana Satrova, from the O2 Foundation that organises the project along with the civic group Aisis, told journalists today.
Children, parents and teachers have poor knowledge of cyber bullying and the campaign Minimise Harassment will tell them how to seek help, Satrova said.
"Offensive SMSs, placing humiliating video recordings at the web page and insults at Facebook may not be funny. This is called cyber bullying," the 750,000 flyers, to be distributed to all children from the third to the nighth grades, say.
The brochure includes contacts to the Safety Line and an Internet advisory center.
The flyer is mainly to encourage them not to keep secret their problems with cyber bullying, Satrova said.
"Children move in the virtual world in an all too careless way. Many adults are unable to tell them how to protect themselves against the existing risks," Satrova said.
As a result, another 750,000 flyers are for the parents who will be told what cyber bullying is and how they can help their children.
"Schools often feel that cyber bullying does not concern them as it takes place outside their confines. However, research has disclosed that the phenomenon is closely related with the school environment. Some 78 percent of aggressors attend the same class or school as the victims," organiser Jana Udatna said.
According to a survey conducted in February, perhaps 10 percent of schoolchildren from the third to ninth grades have come across some form of harassment.
