Sharp rise in online bullying is the latest effect of the pandemic

There's calls for more to be done to crack down on cyber bullying - as more on more children seek support.

Stats released today reveal the NSPCC have seen a 25% increase in children reaching out for help after experiencing bullying on social media.

The charity believe this a direct link to the pandemic with more children being forced online due to the lockdowns and switch to online learning.

Val McFarlane from the Bullying Intervention Group in County Durham worries cyber bullying is becoming so severe that kids could develop long lasting mental health problems:

In October 2020 twelve year old Charley Patterson from Cramlington tragically took her own life after facing daily abuse online and in person we've been raising awareness about bullying ever since.

"Online bullying can happen at anytime in any place, you can be receiving abuse while you're in your bedroom, it can be happening when a child is a sleep they could be getting hurtful messages sent to them which they'll read when they wake up. Children and young people tend to be much crueler online and they may say things that they wouldn't when they are face to face. It can be extremely serious it makes a child feel very isolated and in some cases it makes them feel suicidal. The bullying is relentless, it follows a child 24/7 this is a different world we're living in and it's soul destroying. One of the scariest aspects for me is that sometimes this abuse can be done anonymously, a child could set up a fake account making the victim feel more scared. This can lead to numerous mental health problems like increased anxiety, for example when they're in a school environment as they don't know who is there bully so that turns the fear factor up."