More than a third of Romanian teenagers consulted by World Vision (35.6%) have received unwanted sexual messages online. Thus, almost two out of ten young people say that they have been asked to engage in sexual interactions, and 39% know young people of their age who have received messages of a sexual nature online.
In addition, one in three teenagers (33.5%) has a schoolmate or friend who has been threatened with revenge pornography or has had nude images of him shared without his consent. A percentage of 5% were threatened with sharing nude photos or had such photos shared with them.
More than seven in ten (71.5%) have received private messages, friend requests, or online comments from unknown adults, and 17.7% say they have spent weeks or even months talking online with strangers.
If they noticed a case of cyberbullying in their school, only one in ten (13%) teenagers would not talk to anyone. If they noticed a case of grooming, almost 17% would not talk to anyone. Of the teenagers who say they would talk to someone about online abuse involving their schoolmates, the principal remains the adult most respondents would talk to.
Online bullying mostly comes from strangers
Teen cyberbullying most often comes from strangers, say two-thirds (67%) of students who responded to the survey.
Also, 27% of respondents say that they were most often bullied online by neighbors, classmates, or other more distant relatives. 6% say they have been bullied online even by their parents, siblings, or very close friends.
However, six out of ten teenagers say they don’t care if someone is aggressive with them online. More than one in ten (11.6%) feel sad in such a situation, and almost two in ten (18.6%) are angry.
If someone is aggressive with them online, more than 63% of teens say they will block communication channels, and nearly 29% say they would not respond in any way.
