Bullying rises in the Western Cape

In May this year, the Department of Basic Education released figures of studies done by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention and the Youth Research Unit of the Bureau of Market Research at Unisa.

The figures showed that 47% of young people between the ages of 12 and 24 had experienced some form of cyberbullying, reports the Weekend Argus.

Just over 21% of high school pupils said they had been approached with “unwanted talk about sex”, and 18% said they had received e-mails or instant messages with advertisements or links to x-rated websites.

Just over 14% were worried or felt threatened by online harassment and 10% said they had been asked to “do something sexual”.

In the Western Cape, 60 incidents of bullying were reported in the first half of this year compared to 33 over the same period in 2016.

Provincial education department spokesperson Jessica Shelver said this number may be higher.

“Many schools deal with cases internally without reporting them to the Safer Schools Programme.”

Social media law expert Emma Sadleir told the Weekend Argus she believed children under 13 years of age should not have a cellphone at school or home.

A deputy principal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed: “If parents need to contact their children, they should call the school.”

Pupils, parents and teachers may phone the Safer Schools Call Centre for counselling and advice on 0800 45 46 47.