UK - Playground bullies are deploying iPods and social networking sites such as MySpace and MSN Messenger to wage increasingly hi-tech campaigns against victims, according to new research.
Academics studying the growth in so-called cyber-bullying discovered that youngsters, particularly girls, who were twice as likely to be affected as boys, ruthlessly exploited every new technological gadget.
Victims reported feeling more lonely, having fewer friends and being less liked. Among the findings was a growing trend to circulate video clips of young people getting changed after PE sessions. The images are captured on mobile phones and passed onto classmates' video iPods. They are often accompanied by sound tracks of critical comments from laughing bullies. Others found images of their abuse on the MySpace and Bebo sites, although the researchers said operators were quick to remove offensive entries. There was also evidence that that the instant messaging service MSN Messenger was emerging as a hurtful new weapon. (more)
