Born into a world of technology, the internet is rarely far from the grasp of young Australians.
While prolific, year nine student Holly Samaranayake says it can also be harmful.
"Bullying comes across on social media, nowadays especially, as there’s Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, and it’s less so in the schoolyard."
Another year nine student, Angus Cramer, says social media makes it easy for bullies to spread hatred.
"Well, I’ve seen people show other people photos of other people in the school on their phone, laugh about it, stuff like that. And that happens quite a bit. And that can also transfer into the schoolyard environment, people can bully you for stuff that’s happened online as well."
A counseling service run by Kids Helpline receives about 3-and-a-half-thousand calls a year from young people experiencing bullying.
The organization's Tony Fitzgerald says more than a third of calls concern cyber-bullying.
"Social media platforms certainly have a role to play in this space, and they have responsibilities to ensure that their platforms can be used appropriately and safely. However, when we’re talking about the issues of bullying and cyber-bullying, we’re also talking about the behavior of individuals."
Founder of Cyber Safety Solutions Susan McLean says having children switch off their devices altogether is not realistic, and another action is needed.
"I think it’s vital that social media companies partner with organizations within a community to try to stem the rise of hate and bullying online. Cyber-bullying is not a technology issue, it’s a social issue, it’s an interpersonal relationship issue that’s playing out online."
The social media giant Facebook has two-billion people on its platforms.
Its Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis, says the company has a team of almost 20-thousand people working towards identifying harmful material within 24-hours.
"But more than that, we’re also using more and more technology to get ahead of these issues and to be able to pull things down quickly as well as to prioritize reports so that we can move fast through them. We can put in place the policies, the tools and whatever else we need to really try and create a safe platform, but we can’t do it without partners like Project RockIt building programs in schools."
As part of recognizing its responsibility, Facebook – which also owns Instagram - has pledged one-million dollars (($A)) to a youth-driven anti-cyberbullying initiative, Project RockIt.
Co-founder of Project RockIt, Rosie Thomas, says together they aim to build a network of 10-thousand ‘digital ambassador's across 600 schools over the next two years.
"This is all about peer-based, youth-driven anti-bullying education. It’s not enough to just tell strategies, we need to go so much beyond that. We need young people to come up with the strategies, to own them, and give them the platform to actually lead on the issues that they’re experts in."
The investment is welcomed by the federal government, which has just launched ((Fri 19 Oct)) its latest cyber safety framework for schools.
"I don’t think there is one silver bullet that will fix this issue, I think we’ve got to look at a variety of programs. But the most important thing is now we’re starting to get programs in place where we empower kids, where we empower principals and teachers but also we can inform and empower broader members of the community.
Rosie Thomas says it is important for young people to understand that no one deserves to be bullied.
"Anyone who sees anyone else being bullied, it’s so much easier to stand up for someone else than it is for them to stand up for themselves, so take the plunge and actually stand up, have the courage to have somebody’s back."
A researcher at RMIT University Dr. Mohit Pandit says, “It’s important for people to understand what is cyber-bullying and how to find help.”
