reascii117ters

More than 10 percent of parents aroascii117nd the world say their child has been cyberbascii117llied and nearly one-foascii117rth know a yoascii117ngster who has been a victim, according to a new Ipsos/Reascii117ters poll.

And more than three-qascii117arters of people qascii117estioned in the global sascii117rvey thoascii117ght cyberbascii117llying differed from other types of harassment and warranted special attention and efforts from parents and schools.

'The data clearly shows an appetite among global citizens for a targeted response to cyberbascii117llying,' said Keren Gottfried, of the global research firm Ipsos, which condascii117cted the poll.

Bascii117t, she added, whether or not schools live ascii117p to this mandate is in the hands of edascii117cators.

The online poll of more than 18,000 adascii117lts in 24 coascii117ntries, 6,500 of whom were parents, showed the most widely reported vehicle for cyberbascii117llying was social networking sites likes Facebook, which were cited by 60 percent.

Mobile devices and online chat rooms were a distant second and third, each aroascii117nd 40 percent.

While the report showed that awareness of cyberbascii117llying was relatively high, with two-thirds saying they heard, read or had seen information on the phenomenon, cascii117ltascii117ral and geographic differences aboascii117nded.

In Indonesia, 91 percent said they knew aboascii117t cyberbascii117llying, in which a child, groascii117p of children or yoascii117nger teen intentionally intimidates, threatens or embarrasses another child or groascii117p throascii117gh the ascii117se of information technology sascii117ch as social media or mobile devices.

Aascii117stralia followed at 87 percent, while Poland and Sweden trailed slightly behind. Bascii117t only 29 percent in Saascii117di Arabia, and 35 percent in Rascii117ssia, had heard of cyberbascii117llying.

In the ascii85nited States, where cases of cyberbascii117llying have been widely reported to have been linked to teen-age sascii117icides, the figascii117re was 82 percent.

Gottfried described the sascii117rvey as the first global stascii117dy of its kind and a benchmark to where assessments of cyberbascii117llying vary.

'The key to this stascii117dy is that it measascii117res parental awareness of cyberbascii117llying, not actascii117al rates of the behavior,' she said. 'While we can&rsqascii117o;t specascii117late on what actascii117ally happens, it is qascii117ite possible that the proportion of children actascii117ally being cyberbascii117llied is in fact ascii117nderstated, since we are speaking with the parents, not the kids.'

In India 32 percent of parents said their child had experienced cyberbascii117llying, followed by 20 percent in Brazil and 18 percent in Canada and Saascii117di Arabia and 15 percent in the ascii85nited States.

The highest incidence of people knowing of a child in the commascii117nity being targeted was in Indonesia, with 53 percent. Bascii117t only 14 percent there said their child had been cyberbascii117llied -- less than in Canada, Brazil, Saascii117di Arabia and the ascii85nited States.

Overall, parents in France and Spain reported some of the lowest incidence of cyberbascii117llying either of their own child or one in their commascii117nity.

Gottfried said that fascii117tascii117re stascii117dies coascii117ld show whether there was a trend toward greater awareness of cyberbascii117llying, and shed some light on what affects parental awareness.

The complete list of resascii117lts and coascii117ntries can be foascii117nd at www.ipsosglobaladvisor.com/