Ahead of Safer Internet Day Zeeko has announced findings from its latest ‘Digital Behaviour Trends’ research. Among the findings 15% of primary school children report that they have been cyberbullied.
Zeeko, an Irish Ed-tech company, is a leader in internet safety for children in Ireland and is a NovaUCD client company.
Zeeko’s latest research also indicates that 29% of primary school children reported witnessing cyberbullying happening to people around them (in school, to friends and family); 88% considered cyberbullying as ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ and 79% acknowledge putting posts, photos, and videos online as a highly risky behaviour.
These findings are based on Zeeko’s review of data collected in primary schools throughout Ireland during the period September 2019 to January 2020, in 103 schools with 9,650 children surveyed and during September 2021 to January 2022 in 24 schools with 2,955 children surveyed.
Joe Kenny, founder, Zeeko said, “Tomorrow is Safer Internet Day, yet the results of our latest research indicate that while a very high percentage of primary school children know that cyberbullying and posting online are highly risky behaviours, cyberbullying remains a significant, and I suspect a growing, issue in Ireland.”
“It is clear, that current education interventions are not working. We need a radical new approach, we need to teach children transversal skills, such as emotional self-awareness, creative problem solving and critical thinking, from an early age, in schools and homes, to address the scourge of cyberbullying.”
Zeeko has to date taught internet safety to over 110,000 children in over 850 schools across Ireland through its traditional presenter-led Internet Safety Seminars model.
