A school chat after dinner. A game voice channel. A private message that starts with a joke and becomes humiliation. Cyberbullying often looks small from the outside, but for a child it can feel impossible to escape.
It does not end when school ends. It follows the child home, into bed, through notifications, screenshots, group chats, and the fear that everyone else has already seen it.
What cyberbullying is
Cyberbullying is repeated harm through digital technology. It can include insults, threats, humiliation, spreading rumors, excluding a child from a group, sharing private photos, impersonating the child, or pressuring them with screenshots and private messages.
It is especially painful because:
- It follows the child home. The phone keeps bringing the conflict back.
- It can have an audience. A humiliating message or image can spread quickly.
- It is hard to leave. Blocking one account may not stop the social pressure around it.
What European data shows
Cyberbullying is now treated as a Europe-wide child-safety and mental-health issue. It happens on social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, and other online spaces children use every day.
WHO Europe reports that one in six school-aged children has experienced cyberbullying. The same study found that more than one in ten adolescents had cyberbullied others.
The European Commission describes cyberbullying as one of the most pressing online safety concerns for minors and young people in Europe.
The Commission notes that cyberbullying can happen on social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, and other online environments. Across Safer Internet Centre helplines, cyberbullying has been the main topic of calls over the last five years, representing 14 % of all calls.
Numbers do not tell you whether your child is safe tonight. But they do make one thing clear: this is not a rare edge case, and parents should not wait for a child to explain everything perfectly before taking it seriously.
What cyberbullying looks like in practice
Cyberbullying can be direct or subtle. These are common forms parents should know:
- Direct attacks — insults, name-calling, threats, or humiliating messages
- Exclusion — deliberately pushing a child out of a group chat or online game
- Rumors and screenshots — private messages shared to embarrass or isolate the child
- Body shaming — mocking appearance, weight, clothing, voice, or photos
- Impersonation — fake profiles or posts made in the child’s name
- Sexual pressure — threats to share intimate material or demands for more
- Dogpiling — many children attacking one child at once
What parents can do
Do not start by taking the phone
It is natural to want the harm to stop. But if the first consequence is losing the phone, a child may decide not to tell you next time. The goal is to stop the abuse, not punish the child for being targeted.
Listen before solving
Ask calm questions: “How long has this been happening?” “Who is involved?” “What are you most afraid will happen next?” Your child needs to hear that this is not their fault and that you will handle it together.
Save evidence
Take screenshots of messages, profiles, comments, and group names. Do not delete everything immediately. Evidence may matter when reporting to a platform, school, police, or safeguarding contact.
Involve the school when peers are involved
Even when bullying happens online, it often overlaps with school life. If the children know each other offline, contact the class teacher, school safeguarding lead, counselor, or psychologist.
Escalate threats and sexual material
Threats, blackmail, extortion, sharing intimate images, or pressuring a child for sexual content should be treated as serious. Contact local police or child-protection services.
Where to get help
- In many European countries: children can call 116 111, the harmonized child helpline number
- Safer Internet Centres: national centres offer parent resources, reporting guidance, and helplines
- School safeguarding contact: when the children involved know each other through school
- Local police or child-protection services: for threats, extortion, sexual material, or serious harassment
- Emergency services: if there is immediate danger
The role of technology
Cyberbullying is hard to spot because it often happens in private messages, closed groups, and platforms parents do not normally see. Children may stay silent because they are ashamed, scared, or afraid the situation will get worse.
Ferda is a mobile app that helps protect children online without giving parents access to ordinary private conversations. It looks for warning patterns: repeated attacks, humiliation, threats, exclusion, pressure, or escalation. If it detects a risk, it alerts the parent with guidance on how to open the topic calmly.
Your child knows Ferda is on the phone. That matters. A transparent safety net can help a child feel less alone and can give parents a chance to respond before the situation grows.
Cyberbullying does not mean your child did something wrong. It means they need to know they can come to you, and you need a way to notice when silence is hiding pain.