The research, which surveyed 130 UK school children aged 13-18, also reveals that 30% of students have accessed prohibited websites at school, including pornographic, gambling, self-harm and pro-anorexia websites, while 49% of young people admit knowing classmates who have. This is despite the fact that over 90% of schools still insist on a policy of blocking illegal or harmful websites.
Further questioning by Impero also reveals that 49% of UK students now most regularly access the internet via a mobile device – whether that be a laptop, smartphone, or a tablet.
Jonathan Valentine, CEO of Impero Software, commented: “Keeping children safe online is one of today’s biggest challenges. With more devices able to access the internet than ever before, young people are more easily left open to incidents of cyberbullying. This needs to be recognised and managed by the education sector.
“Schools are still too reliant on blocking access to illegal websites – as this survey reveals, this is no longer an adequate response. The only really effective way to reduce incidents of cyberbullying is to put teachers back in control of the classroom, which means getting to grips with the technology used by young people and the manner in which they are using it.
“It is only by understanding the online language used by young people and actively monitoring internet usage in school environments that we can deal with incidents of cyberbullying and ultimately keep our young people safe online.”