Nearly half of the nation’s students say that they have been involved in cases of cyberbullying — nearly twice the rate in 2016, a Child Welfare League Foundation survey released yesterday showed.
The Ministry of Education in July amended the Regulations Governing the Prevention and Control of Bullying on Campuses (校園霸凌防制準則) to include online harassment, the foundation said, adding that the move indicates that cyberbullying has become a common phenomenon on school campuses.
In a survey on cyberbullying among students, the foundation found that 10.7 percent of respondents said that they had engaged in the cyberbullying and 18.1 percent said they had been victims thereof, while 18.2 percent said they had both bullied and been bullied.
Photo: CNA
However, a majority of students (53 percent) said that they had never been involved, the foundation said.
A total of 59.2 percent of respondents said that they were worried about being bullied or attacked on the Internet, it said.
A similar survey four years ago showed that just 22.2 percent of students reported having been involved in cyberbullying, foundation chief executive officer Pai Li-fang (白麗芳) told reporters in Taipei.
This year’s survey found that 21.3 percent of students said that “cyberbullying is just a part of growing up.”
Among the respondents who said they had been victims of cyberbullying, the most common form reported was “being attacked, mocked or bullied while playing smartphone or computer games,” at 94.4 percent, the survey showed.
This was followed by 61 percent who said that their private information was “shared publicly by others without their consent,” and 49.9 percent who said that they “received malicious, hostile or offensive private messages,” it showed.
The most common impact cyberbullying had on students was “feeling depressed” (31.2 percent).
Twenty-four percent of students said they felt “anxious or nervous about interpersonal interactions,” and 12.4 percent said they had sleeping problems due to cyberbullying, the survey showed.
About 10 percent of students said they stopped using social media after being bullied online, 7.9 percent said that they engaged in self-harm and 7.6 percent said they had suicidal thoughts, it showed.
The survey showed that 62.8 percent of students said that they would try to solve bullying issues on their own, and 62.7 percent said they would discuss them with a classmate or friend.
About 28 percent of students said they would tell their parents, 13.6 percent said they would discuss the issue with an “Internet friend,” and 13.5 percent said they would tell a teacher, it showed.
The survey, which was conducted from from June 11 to July 9, collected 1,589 valid responses from junior, senior and vocational high-school students, the foundation said.
It had a confidence level of 95 percent, and a margin of error of 2.46 percentage points, it added.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album