0:00:02 > 0:00:05Unfortunately, bullying at school is nothing new,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09but what is changing is the way bullies are using mobile phones
0:00:09 > 0:00:11and the internet to target their victims,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15often without anyone knowing it's them.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17I got a notification up on my phone.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22I wasn't sure if it was someone's idea of a sick joke.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Everybody has a smartphone and it's always there.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27You can't get away from it.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Don't retaliate because that's what they want.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32They want to see you upset, they want to see how they've got to you.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I'll be finding out what it feels like to be targeted online
0:00:36 > 0:00:39and how you can try to deal with cyberbullying.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Cyberbullying is the use of the web or mobile phones to threaten,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52tease or embarrass other people.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55It can be things like leaving upsetting comments
0:00:55 > 0:00:57on people's social media websites,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00sending unpleasant texts or sharing embarrassing images
0:01:00 > 0:01:02of other people without their permission
0:01:02 > 0:01:06and for those who are affected, it can make life very difficult.
0:01:08 > 0:01:09It's faceless.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12You don't get your chance to say anything back
0:01:12 > 0:01:14before everybody else is getting involved.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Cyberbullying would just make things worse at school
0:01:18 > 0:01:21because it was shared on by everybody.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Even people who weren't bullying me before would then join in.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26I felt like I was in a cage.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31There was no place that I could go to escape it.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I definitely felt isolated.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36My mum and dad hadn't experienced anything like it.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38I didn't know where to go to for help.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Cases of cyberbullying have been in the news a lot recently
0:01:43 > 0:01:46and we know it's an issue you're getting more worried about.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Being targeted online can be a very lonely and upsetting experience
0:01:50 > 0:01:53and it's something that could happen to anyone.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Welcome to Friday Download, your instant download for the week ahead.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Shannon Flynn is an actor and CBBC presenter,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06but when she first started out on TV, she was bullied online.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12So, Shannon, when did you first experience cyberbullying?
0:02:12 > 0:02:14I'd recently just aired on television
0:02:14 > 0:02:17cos I started Waterloo Road when I was 12
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and was signed up to quite a lot
0:02:19 > 0:02:22of different social media sites, obviously, cos my friends were
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and I was signed up to a specific one
0:02:25 > 0:02:27where you could send anonymous questions
0:02:27 > 0:02:30but I wasn't really getting questions.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32A lot of them were just threats,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35like, "If I see you out then, I'm going to slap you",
0:02:35 > 0:02:38"You're so ugly", "Don't come out in public."
0:02:38 > 0:02:42I got one that said, "Why don't you put a bag over your head?"
0:02:42 > 0:02:43It makes you feel sick.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47I think that's probably the best way to describe how I felt,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49physically sick, it was like nervous.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52I didn't know where it was coming from.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54I'd come home from school, log on...
0:02:56 > 0:03:00..check the messages and I used to just sit and just cry my eyes out.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Do you think it's too easy for people to bully others online?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Yeah, way too easy. Somebody wouldn't come up to me and say,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10"You should put a bag over your head, you're well ugly."
0:03:10 > 0:03:12There's not a chance that anybody would say that,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15even the people that were writing it to me wouldn't say it.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19People become something else when they've got something to hide behind.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23As I've grown up and I've got a lot more mature, I understand how
0:03:23 > 0:03:26to handle situations better than when I was younger and I was receiving it.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31So do you have advice for kids out there who are being bullied online?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34If you're being cyberbullied, I'd say the most important thing
0:03:34 > 0:03:36is to not bottle it up.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Make sure you tell somebody, somebody that you can trust.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Block the people that are sending the abuse to you,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44because on every website, regardless of what it is,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47there is a way to report them or block them, delete them
0:03:47 > 0:03:52and, finally, I would say don't retaliate to any of the abuse.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Don't comment back, don't reply, because that's what they want.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57They want to see you upset, they want to see how they've got to you.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Just don't provoke it, leave it.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Charities estimate that as many as one in three children
0:04:03 > 0:04:05have been victims of cyberbullying,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08with girls more likely to be targeted.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10I've come to this school in Manchester
0:04:10 > 0:04:14to see just how much of an impact it's having on children's lives.
0:04:14 > 0:04:15- Hi, guys!- ALL: Hi.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17- How are you doing? You all right?- ALL: Yeah.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20So, guys, who here has had a bad experience online?
0:04:21 > 0:04:22Quite a lot of you.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26There was some girl that used to start arguments with me
0:04:26 > 0:04:29over Facebook nearly every day and it really upset me.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33I was told these mean comments and he was being rude to me
0:04:33 > 0:04:36and I didn't know how to delete him or block him.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40I've had normal arguments with people but then it goes online
0:04:40 > 0:04:42and things get said
0:04:42 > 0:04:45that you wouldn't normally hear off your friends.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47At school, there's teachers to solve it,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51but at home, when you're in your bedroom on your computer,
0:04:51 > 0:04:52there's no-one to solve it.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I wasn't sure what to do when I was getting bullied,
0:04:55 > 0:04:58but then I realised I could set my account on private
0:04:58 > 0:05:01so the public can't go through my photos.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Teachers are becoming more aware of the issue
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and they do try to deal with instances of online bullying,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09but that's not always straightforward to do.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11One of the big problems with cyberbullying
0:05:11 > 0:05:14is that you don't always know who the bullies are.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17They could be anonymous or using someone else's name,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21and that can make it hard to deal with and difficult to stop,
0:05:21 > 0:05:22as Emily found out.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I'm Emily. I'm 16 years old.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30When I wake up the morning,
0:05:30 > 0:05:32I'll probably spend about ten minutes in bed
0:05:32 > 0:05:35reading through all the Facebook and Twitter feeds.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I text my friends all the time.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41I just like to know what people are doing. I'm quite nosy.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50I first started having problems at school when I started Year 7.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54I would be called names like "shovel face", "Miss Piggy".
0:05:54 > 0:05:57It affected how I looked at myself.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I wouldn't look in the mirror. I just wouldn't.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04You shouldn't ever get used to it,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08but after a while, you just do.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11But it wasn't just at school that Emily was picked on.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13After she joined a social media site,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16she began getting targeted there too.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I had my best friends over for a sleepover
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and we were doing little clown makeovers and having a laugh
0:06:25 > 0:06:28and then I got a notification up on my phone
0:06:28 > 0:06:33and it said that I had a really disturbing face...
0:06:34 > 0:06:37..and that I would have to get plastic surgery
0:06:37 > 0:06:41if I ever wanted to look nice.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46I wasn't sure if it was someone's idea of a sick joke.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Deep inside, it did really hurt.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52The social media site Emily joined
0:06:52 > 0:06:56allows people to post comments without having to give their name,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59so Emily didn't know who was making the hurtful remarks.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02It made life at school even more difficult.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I remember walking down the corridor and being like,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09"Oh, is she talking about me? Was he talking about me?"
0:07:09 > 0:07:11I was so paranoid!
0:07:11 > 0:07:12When I was in lessons, I'd think,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16"Oh, what are they going to be saying about me tonight?"
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Bullying feels like you're trapped in a room
0:07:21 > 0:07:23where there are no windows,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26no doors and the walls are just closing in on you and in the end
0:07:26 > 0:07:31it's all the way around you and you can't move and you can't escape.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35Emily has now shut down her account
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and since leaving school and starting college,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41she's put the experience behind her.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46My life now has, I would say, dramatically changed
0:07:46 > 0:07:49since I left school.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I'm not still being bullied.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54That part of my life is over
0:07:54 > 0:07:58and I'm not going to be the victim any more. I'm at a lovely sixth-form,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03I've got a lovely, strong group of friends who care about me a lot
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and I'm a lot happier now.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13It's so easy to be bullied nowadays because the technology's moved on.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15If you're getting bullied, talk to people.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19You're never on your own, you've always got someone.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21It's so important not to suffer in silence.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Removing yourself from the online bullies by shutting down
0:08:30 > 0:08:33your social media account is just one way to stop the problem,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37but for many people, the online world has become such a big part
0:08:37 > 0:08:40of their lives that walking away just isn't an option.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44For Zoe Sugg, life revolves around the internet.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48She's a video blogger better known to her fans as Zoella.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Hello, everyone.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Today I am going to be doing a video showing you
0:08:51 > 0:08:54all my favourite beauty products of this month.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Zoe makes and posts videos about herself online
0:08:56 > 0:09:00and is now one of the most successful vloggers in the country.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02She was recently named vlogger of the year
0:09:02 > 0:09:04at the Radio 1 Teen Awards.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07The winner for best British vlogger is...
0:09:07 > 0:09:08Zoella!
0:09:08 > 0:09:10CHEERING
0:09:10 > 0:09:13What kind of relationship do you have with your viewers?
0:09:13 > 0:09:15I like to read all the comments that are coming through.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17They'll say, "I really enjoy your videos",
0:09:17 > 0:09:18"Keep making videos", "Never stop."
0:09:18 > 0:09:22It's nice to have support and positive comments back
0:09:22 > 0:09:23for something that you've done
0:09:23 > 0:09:25and it's really encouraging as well.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Zoe now has over 3 million subscribers to her videos
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and gets thousands of comments posted to her,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37but that success has also made her a target for online bullying.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39I've had comments about my appearance,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43I have people telling me that I'm too skinny to be a role model,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46that I lie about having anxiety just to get views,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50pretty much everything that you can think of, I've probably read
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and sometimes I would think, "I don't really want to make a video now",
0:09:53 > 0:09:56because it knocks your confidence a bit.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00They wanted to upset me or make me feel rubbish
0:10:00 > 0:10:02and that's exactly what they did.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Why do you think you got some of these comments?
0:10:05 > 0:10:07I think it's just very easy for somebody to just type
0:10:07 > 0:10:09whatever they want to type, press send
0:10:09 > 0:10:10and they don't even have to think about it,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13because it's not somebody that's sat opposite you.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16It's not somebody that you are having to look at in the eye.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It's somebody that you don't know, so you can just write
0:10:19 > 0:10:22whatever you want to write and you don't have to think about it.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23You can just walk away.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Zoe's not going to stop making her videos because of the nasty posts.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Instead, she focuses on the many more positive messages
0:10:31 > 0:10:33she gets from her viewers.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The people that care and the people that love your videos
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and comment on your videos and give you positivity
0:10:39 > 0:10:42are the people that really matter when it comes down to YouTube.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Thanks for watching, everybody, and I will see you again very soon.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Goodbye!
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Zoe doesn't let the horrible messages get to her any more,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54but many kids who are targeted online
0:10:54 > 0:10:56will also be picked on at school
0:10:56 > 0:10:58and when that happens, it can often feel like
0:10:58 > 0:11:02there's no escape from the bullies, as Jack found out.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07I'm Jack and I'm 14 years old.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12The bullying started when I joined secondary school
0:11:12 > 0:11:15because I didn't really know anybody, I was always alone
0:11:15 > 0:11:18so people used to pick on me because of this.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20At first, it was just a bit of verbal -
0:11:20 > 0:11:23people just blurting out stuff, calling me "teacher's pet"
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and then it gradually became physical - people pushing me,
0:11:27 > 0:11:28trying to trip me up.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34At home, Jack was able to have a break from his problems.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38He would go online and chat to old friends from primary school.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41I liked coming home and speaking to my friends and finding out
0:11:41 > 0:11:43what their school's like and what my school's like
0:11:43 > 0:11:45and just catching up, really.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47It was nice.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50But when Jack invited some of the kids from his new school
0:11:50 > 0:11:54to be friends with him online, he started having problems there too.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57One day I saw that somebody was calling me...
0:11:57 > 0:12:00saying that I'm a weirdo in this photo.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02At first, I just thought,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06"Oh, it's probably a bit of a joke or they've said it to the wrong person",
0:12:06 > 0:12:07so I left it.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12A week later, it was happening every day, anything I put up.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15It was commented on, saying, "Oh, weirdo",
0:12:15 > 0:12:17"Idiot", "You look horrible in that picture."
0:12:17 > 0:12:19It was hard enough at school,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23but coming home and seeing all this, it was just really horrible.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Everybody has a smartphone and it's always there -
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Facebook, Instagram, whatever.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It's always there, you can't get away from it.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36I just wanted to stay off school and just go into a corner
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and hide away and hope that everything would stop.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Not knowing where to turn, Jack took matters into his own hands.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47I just wanted to stop it all and make a change.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52I looked online and saw an anti-bullying ambassador scheme.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54There are a number of charities that offer support
0:12:54 > 0:12:56and advice to kids online.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59The Diana Award is one that trains young people
0:12:59 > 0:13:01to be anti-bullying ambassadors so they can help
0:13:01 > 0:13:03to tackle the problem themselves.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Jack introduced the idea into his school
0:13:06 > 0:13:08and was one of the first to take on the role there.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10As an anti-bullying ambassador,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14we help the vulnerable kids in our school.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17They can just come to us and say, "I've been having this problem",
0:13:17 > 0:13:21cos they know there is someone that they can turn to.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23And Jack's not stopped there.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26He now tries to educate other kids about online safety.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Today I'm going to do a presentation about cyberbullying.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Does anybody know any types of cyberbullying at all?
0:13:35 > 0:13:36Taking a stand against bullying
0:13:36 > 0:13:38has made a big difference to Jack's life.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40He's no longer targeted at school
0:13:40 > 0:13:43and is determined to stop others going through what he did.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45'When it was happening to me,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48'I didn't really know anything about the online safety.'
0:13:48 > 0:13:53Thank you for listening to what I had to offer.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Feeling how I felt when I was being bullied,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I don't want anyone to be in the situation I was in.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Being cyberbullied can be a really lonely and upsetting experience.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12It can sometimes feel like it's never going to end,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14but the stories of Emily and Jack, Zoe and Shannon,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18show us that there are ways to deal with the problem.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20To use nearly all social media sites,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23you have to be at least 13 and most offer a way to report
0:14:23 > 0:14:27any bullying in confidence or block users who aren't being nice.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31If a site allows people to send messages anonymously,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34you should think about staying away
0:14:34 > 0:14:37and if you know someone who's being bullied,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39be a good friend and offer your support.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Perhaps the most important thing to remember
0:14:41 > 0:14:44is that you don't have to go through it on your own.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Talking to an adult you trust can often be the first step
0:14:47 > 0:14:49in putting an end to the bullying.
0:14:51 > 0:14:52To find more advice on how
0:14:52 > 0:14:54to deal with online bullying,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56visit the Stay Safe page
0:14:56 > 0:14:57on the CBBC website.