Cyberbullying and the DRONE Erasmus+ Project

Parents International, hosting one of the Participate Doctoral Candidates, is also part of the DRONE Erasmus+ project. In order to develop trainings for teachers and school leaders as well as tools for students, secondary and primary research has been carried out in 6 countries in DRONE. In two countries, Germany and the Netherlands, Parents International has carried out the research and also participated in conducting primary research in Hungary.

Overall, participating students feel supported and confident in navigating digital realities. Bullying and cyberbullying was found to be far less frequent than earlier research shows regardless of the fact that participants came from disadvantaged backgrounds, and most reported incidents were ones where the perpetrators were teachers.

 

Students’ Digital Competence and Experiences with Bullying

In May and June 2024, individual interviews were conducted with disadvantaged students – mostly migrant and Roma students as well as students with disabilities – aged 12-18. The questions have been focusing on topics like their perceived digital competence level, their experiences with bullying and cyberbullying, fake news and dis/misinformation, their social media use and time spent online, their opinion about school ICT curricula, and who they can turn to when they are in trouble or need help with ICT.

In both Germany and the Netherlands, all students reported that they are confident using digital tools, all are experienced in searching and verifying information. and use the internet for learning, all use it for keeping in contact with family/friends. All had/have support from family and/or friends. Most think that their teachers cannot really help and support them, and there is very little trust in teachers as allies.

ICT curricula are considered useless/outdated by all. As a result of their confidence in using digital tools and verifying information, the overwhelming majority of participants feel completely safe online or know how to protect themselves. All students are suspicious of information found on the internet and do not take it at face value.

Trust and Support Networks for Cyberbullying Victims

When the participants were asked about bullying experiences, they were encouraged to share not only if they were bullied, but also if they know somebody who has been a victim. In the Netherlands about half of the students knows about someone who was bullied, but nobody has experience being bullied by peers. However, about 30% of students reported that they were bullied by teachers.

It is, of course, not representative as most students came from migrant families. In Germany, about 10% of students reported being bullied, about half of them by teachers. In both countries bullying by teachers in the form of body-shaming as well as being bullied for disabilities got mentions.

In case of incidents or emergencies all students reported that they trust and can rely on their parents (and some also on grandparents). Over half of them also trust friends. In the Netherlands no students would trust teachers, in Germany about 40% of students would also turn to their teachers for support.
In most countries, interviews with adults are still to be fully analysed, but parent interviews in Germany and the Netherlands so far verify what students reported. The picture is more complex when analysing teacher and school leader interviews.

These results clearly show that parents need to be a primary target group in tackling bullying and cyberbullying, and schools need to consider that their role is far smaller than they tend to assume. Also, schools need to consider the low level of trust, and build on the existing trust of students in their parents. Also, it is important to deal with the perception that teachers have low competence levels while parents can support students, and it will need to be verified if it is perception only or in fact reality. This will surely be the basis of the development of trainings and tools for students in DRONE, but it can also support the practical tools to be developed in Participate.