Bullying online has soared during the Covid pandemic

Victorian kids are being bullied online in record numbers, with hateful racist, homophobic and sexist slurs causing potentially devastating mental distress.

Suzan Delibasic

3 min read

August 13, 2021 - 8:00PM

Victoria

Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.

Victorian students are being bullied online in record numbers during the Covid pandemic, with hateful racist, homophobic and sexist slurs causing kids potentially devastating mental distress.

Children as young as 12 are being targeted in the vile attacks, with police warning that what kids said to each other online could “have serious consequences in the real world”.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has reported a shocking 30 per cent surge in youth cyber-bullying in 2020-21, with hate groups posting on popular social media apps including Instagram and Snapchat.

Racist attacks observed have included African students being called “ape shit” and “the N-word”, while among other shocking bullying attacks, a year 8 student at a prestigious private school in Melbourne’s east was called a “sl-t” in a Snapchat hate group.

A 12-year-old student, whose photo was also posted, was targeted with homophobic slurs, with the bullies saying: “Man’s not straight, you’re definitely in the closet bro.”

In some instances, the hateful posts have been reported to Instagram several times, with the social media giant resisting their removal, amid claims “the account didn’t go against community guidelines”.

Rikki, 12, with his mum Ann, is fighting back against bullying after being targeted. Picture: Mark Stewart

The young woman who was the victim of the “sl-t” comment said: “They sent photos around of me and said I was a sl-t . . . they made the group chat my name … It went on for six weeks and I couldn’t handle it anymore – I was on the edge.”

The girl’s parents said they reported the bullying to authorities and were angered by the length of time it took for the posts to be taken down.

Rikki, 12, from Melbourne’s southeast, was tormented for months in the schoolyard and excluded at lunchtimes almost two years ago before writing a letter to his bullies, that he gave to his former teacher to read out to his class. He then left the school.

“I’ve had a couple of people message me, asking how to get through bullying … I know how to spot a bully and what kind of traits a bully has,” Rikki said.

“I’m much happier at my new school. I have really good friends. They are really supportive and take an extremely strong stance against bullying.

His mum, Ann Toscano, who runs Bent But Not Breaking - a bullying awareness website - said she was proud of her son’s courage and wanted to see social media companies take more action.

“There is a real problem with how long it takes for social media companies to remove posts. I’ve reported harmful content myself and it has taken at least 60 days for it to be taken down,” she said.

“There also needs to be stronger laws and monitoring of accounts. It’s so easy for people to create fake accounts and that’s a real problem.

“Another issue on these social media apps is that messages disappear . . . so people can say whatever they want and not be held accountable.”

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said one in five Australian children had experienced being bullied online.

“The average age is 14 and girls are bullied online more than boys,” Ms Inman Grant said.

“Unlike playground bullying, it can happen 24/7,” she said.

Cyber-bullying has surged during the Covid pandemic.

“Where a child reports cyber-bullying material targeting them to a provider and the provider fails to remove the material within 48 hours, the child or parent can make a report to the eSafety Commissioner’s cyber-bullying team,” she said.

“Our cyberbullying team works with the complainant and the social media sites to have the offending content removed as quickly as possible. We find that once we get it taken down, kids can recover and get on with their lives.”

Bully Zero Foundation Australia Foundation chief executive Janet Grima said the increase in cyber-bullying during the pandemic was concerning.

“The types of cyberbullying we’re seeing is people being unkind online or targeting someone for what they look like, doing or what they have to say,” Ms Grima said.

She said Bully Zero had also received an increase in calls for support during the pandemic.

A Department of Education spokesman said: “Any form of bullying — be it at school, on social media or anywhere — is completely unacceptable.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said online bullying could result in criminal charges.