Cyberbullying Among Greek High School Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the presence of cyberbullying among Greek students and the efficacy of proposed preventive interventions.

METHODS: Three types of high schools (private, experimental and public) with different politics on on-line aggression were enrolled. All students of the aforementioned schools were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire.

RESULTS: Around 62 % of the high school students experienced cyberbullying by electronic means, especially by cell phone, mostly the public school students (p 0.008). The bully was a stranger in more than 40 % of the cases. Over 60 % of the victims had not seeked help but dealt with the attack on their own. Only 20 % of the victims manifested sleep or eating disorders, physical/ psychological symptoms or changes in their social life as a consequence of the cyber-attack.

CONCLUSIONS: Cyberbullying is a usual phenomenon among high school students. The bully is frequently unacquainted to the victim. Most of the victims are not physically or psychologically affected by the cyber-attack and do not share the event with anyone. There was a slight difference in the response of the students to cyberbullying among the different school politics of on-line aggression.