A whopping 85 per cent of children in India have reported being cyberbullied as well as having cyberbullied someone, according to a report released by computer security software company McAfee. The India-centric findings are part of company’s global report titled ‘Cyberbullying in Plain Sight’, a 10-country survey. It was conducted between June 15 and July 5, covering 11,687 parents and their children. McAfee also claimed that the survey uncovered a startling fact – that many children take part in cyberbullying often without realising their behaviour for what it is, while parents struggle to keep up.

“Cyberbullying in India reaches alarming highs as more than 1 in 3 kids face cyber racism, sexual harassment, and threats of physical harm as early as at the age of 10 – making India the number 1 nation for reported cyberbullying in the world,” McAfee Chief Product Officer Gagan Singh said in the report.

It further said that children in India witness and experience the maximum cyberbullying on almost every social media and messaging platform.

“85 per cent of Indian children reported being cyberbullied as well as having cyberbullied someone else at rates well over twice the international average,” the report said.

Further, 45 per cent of these children said they hide their cyberbullying experiences from parents, perhaps due to the relative absence of conversation.

The Methodology

In a release, McAfee explained the methodology it adopted for the survey, which was conducted in association with market research company MSI-ACI. The parents of children in the age group 10 and 18 were invited through e-mail to fill an online questionnaire.

The parents were first asked if their children were available to complete a survey. If yes, the parent was asked to complete a few questions themselves before turning over the survey to their child.

The 10 countries where survey was conducted are: United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, India, Canada, Japan, Brazil and Mexico.