From WhatsApp to TikTok, young people share how cyberbullying impacts them and the fixes they believe in.
Cyberbullying is one of the most pressing challenges facing young people today. To better understand its impact and explore what kinds of support actually help, we conducted a Youth Cyberbullying Support and Intervention Survey with 120 respondents. The results reveal both the scale of the issue and the types of solutions youth believe in most.
Who Took Part?
The participants spanned ages 9 to 24, with the largest groups being:
14–16 years: 42.7%
17–19 years: 38.8%
20–24 years: 11.7%
9–13 years: 6.8%
This means the findings strongly reflect the teenage and young adult experience, which are the ones most active on today’s digital platforms.
How many Experience Cyberbullying
21.4% have personally been targeted.
45.6% have witnessed it happening to someone else.
33% reported no direct experience.
So, nearly two-thirds of young people surveyed have either been victims or bystanders.
Where It Happens Most
Respondents identified the top platforms for cyberbullying:
WhatsApp (47.4%)
Instagram (35.9%)
TikTok (34.6%)
Other platforms included gaming platforms (16.7%), Snapchat (15.4%), Discord (12.8%), Facebook (3.8%), and X/Twitter (2.6%).
How Serious Is It?
Youth overwhelmingly see cyberbullying as a real problem:
Very serious: 46.6%
Extremely serious: 28.2%
Somewhat serious: 19.4%
Not serious: 5.8%
That is 74.8% recognizing it as “very” or “extremely serious.”
Who do they Turn To?
When asked who they’d tell first:
Parents: 32%
Friends: 30.1%
Would not tell anyone: 17.5%
Online help/chatbots: 9.7%
Others (teacher, counselor, therapist): remaining percentage
This shows that while parents and peers are most trusted, a concerning portion—almost 1 in 5—would suffer in silence.
What Support Works Best?
Youth strongly prefer peer-based and practical approaches:
Talking to a trusted peer (50.5%)
Blocking or removing the bully (40.8%)
Punishing the bully (37.9%)
Other methods like AI guidance apps (26.4%), anonymous specialist chats (26.2%), and school counselors (22.3%) were rated less helpful.
What Doesn’t Work As Well?
AI guidance apps (35.9%) were the least helpful.
School counselors (27.2%) and anonymous chats (26.2%) also received low confidence ratings.
This suggests young people want real, human-centered interventions over automated or institutional responses.
What Young People Are Asking For
Open-ended responses highlight powerful themes:
The need for real-life stories that help peers connect.
Anonymous reporting tools for safe disclosures.
Mental health support alongside intervention.
School-led workshops that involve parents.
Clear policies that hold bullies accountable.
One student summarized it perfectly:
“It should include real-life stories, anonymous reporting tools, mental health support, school-led workshops, and a strict online safety policy that empowers students, involves parents, and holds bullies accountable.”
Another student emphasized the importance of flipping the focus:
“I’ll stop focusing on the victim. Not in a bad way, but instead of preaching to the victim ‘ways to avoid being bullied,’ I’d turn that energy to the bullies, pushing out why bullying is bad and the grave consequences of being caught. Sometimes we focus more on the issue and neglect the cause. If we always go for the root cause, we would annihilate a lot of societal issues today.”
What Adults need to hear
When asked what they wish adults understood about cyberbullying, students said:
“Cyberbullying can deeply affect mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, or even self-harm and it doesn’t always stop when you log off.”
“It can break people down emotionally, and young children won’t open up unless adults approach them calmly.”
- “Blocking doesn’t always work, some really determined individuals can still manage to harass you.”
- “Young people tend to be more vulnerable. Adults should open up their arms so that when such things happen, we can easily run to them.”
Key Takeaway
The survey makes one thing clear: cyberbullying interventions must be youth-centered, proactive, and rooted in empathy. Young people don’t just want technology fixes or generic awareness campaigns, they want trusted relationships, practical tools, and policies that match the realities of their digital lives.
Until schools, parents, and platforms commit to these youth-driven solutions, the cycle of silence and harm will continue. But by listening to young voices, we can create safer online spaces that truly empower them
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