Engl. transl.: Cyberlife II. Between fascination and danger – cyberbullying among pupils. Second empirical survey of parents, teachers and pupils in Germany

Cyberbullying has developed into a permanently virulent problem area in schools and the private environment of young people. As early as 2013, the Bündnis gegen Cybermobbing addressed this phenomenon in a comprehensive empirical study and examined the issue of cyberbullying among pupils from three different perspectives: from parents', teachers' and pupils' perspectives. The study aims to replicate the results of 2013 to record changes and to gather new information. The present study was conducted using a standardised survey both with online and printed questionnaires. A total of over 3,000 students, parents and teachers participated in the survey.

Key findings of the parent's survey: - "According to parents, the usage behaviour of students has changed in the last four years. Children and adolescents now access the internet mainly through their own smartphones instead of their computers. - A ownership of internet-enabled devices is also increasingly reaching the younger generation. - According to parents, pupils aged 7 to 20 spend an average of 2.3 hours on the internet. - Communication continues to act as a central motive for internet use. However, instant messengers (such as WhatsApp, Snapchat...) have now replaced social networks as the central communication platform. - 11% of children have already been victims of cyberbullying. The increase might also be due to the parents' greater awareness. - Compared to 2013, parents are more informed and able to assess the potential dangers better. - Cyberbullying is also becoming more of a problem for younger children, which is likely due to the more universal and better availability of online access. - According to the parents, schools are now more active in dealing with the issue of cyberbullying. - When it comes to violence prevention, parents mainly want anti-violence training in schools." (Bündis gegen Cybermobbing 2017, 8-9; translated by the coder) Key findings of the teacher survey: - "Even though educators fear an increased professional burden through the internet and new media, they are open-minded and use them more frequently in their lessons. - Almost all teachers are well informed about cyberbullying, but every tenth teacher does not consider cyberbullying to be a dangerous situation. - Cyberbullying continues to be a serious problem in German schools. One in ten educators has come into contact with cyberbullying regularly in the last 12 months and over 50% of all educators surveyed have personally experienced cases of cyberbullying among their students. - Schools have massively expanded their prevention work in recent years, with schools in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate being the most active." (Bündis gegen Cybermobbing 2017, 9-10; translated by the coder) Key findings of the student's survey: - "The majority of students are (very) satisfied with their social and family relationships. Young people who are less satisfied use social networks more often to socialise. - Students' internet use has increased sharply. They now spend an average of 3 hours on the internet (up from 2.4 hours in 2013). - Children access the internet mostly through their smartphone. - The communication behaviour of children and young people has changed. Instant messaging has gained importance. On the other hand, social networks have lost importance. Peer pressure to use social networks has decreased. - Almost 13% of the pupils state that they have been affected by cyberbullying; name-calling and insults are the most common forms. - Instant messaging has become the perpetrators' central medium, replacing social networks as the central attack platform. - More than 13% of the respondents have been perpetrators of cyberbullying attacks. What is remarkable here is that the role of perpetrator and victim sometimes merge smoothly: one in five perpetrators has been a victim of cyberbullying themselves. - The consequences of cyberbullying can be fatal. Every fifth cyberbullying victim has already had suicidal thoughts. - According to the students, preventive measures are only systematically implemented in a minority of schools." (Bündis gegen Cybermobbing 2017, 10-11; translated by the coder)