65% of young people say they have been victims of violence and among these 63% have suffered bullying and 19% cyberbullying.
This is what emerges from the survey of the Indifesa Observatory carried out by Terre des Hommes, together with OneDay and the ScuolaZoo community, which involved over 4,000 boys and girls between 14 and 26 years old.
The 2024 data were presented for
Safer Internet Day
, the world awareness day, on 6 February 2024, on the occasion of a meeting with schools organized in collaboration with the State Police - Postal and Communications Police of Lombardy, attended by Daniel Zaccaro, protagonist of the book I was a bully and today an educator, Marco Domizi, Assistant Head of the Lombardy Cybernetic Security Operations Center of the Postal Police and the psychotherapists Marzia Terragni and Francesca Scordamaglia.
The percentage of those who have suffered violence, both physical and psychological, rises to 70% if we consider the responses of girls and to 83% among those who define themselves as non-binary and drops to 56% among males.
The types of violence suffered are also different between genders, with the exception of psychological and verbal violence which affects males and females equally (71% in general and for females; 69% for males).
Bullying
, however, appears to be a more masculine phenomenon
(M 68% and F 60%);
on the contrary,
cyberbullying
seems to affect girls more (F 21% and M 16%).
It is not surprising, however, that among the acts of violence most reported by girls is catcalling
,
i.e. unwanted sexual comments received from strangers in public places, at 61% (for boys only 6%, in general at 40%) and sexual harassment at 30% (7% for males, 23% overall).
All types show higher percentages among those who define themselves as non-binary: psychological or verbal violence and bullying (80%), cat calling (66%), sexual harassment (36%), cyberbullying (27%).
Bullying and cyberbullying, as well as psychological and verbal violence, mainly target physical appearance (79%), becoming
body shaming
.
This is followed by sexual orientation (15%), economic condition (11%), ethnic and geographical origin (10.5%), gender identity (9%), disability (5%) and religion ( 4%).
The consequences of this violence on the subjects are diverse and serious.
The first is the loss of self-esteem, security and trust in others, found by 75% of young people.
In a context in which children's mental health is increasingly at risk, it seems worrying that 47% say they suffer from social anxiety and panic attacks as a product of this violence between peers and that 45% report isolation and distancing from their peers .
The other negative effects are: difficulty concentrating and low academic performance (28%), depression (28%), fear and refusal of school (24%), eating disorders (24%), self-harm (20%).
Among physical violence, which 46.5% of children witnessed, the most frequent were assaults (68%) and harsh pranks (63%).
THE DANGERS OF THE WEB.
After school (66%), the web is perceived as the place where one is most likely to be a victim of violence, indicated by 39% of the responses.
If you look at the girls' responses, the Internet drops to third place (36%) surpassed by the street (41%), instead it reaches fourth place (36%) among those who define themselves as non-binary, surpassed not only by the street but also by the family ( both at 44%).
The biggest risk you can run into online, for 56% of kids, is cyberbullying.
This is followed by revenge porn (45%), identity theft, loss of privacy (35%), solicitation by strangers (35%), harassment (30%), alienation from real life ( 25%), stalking (23%), loneliness (9%) and feeling marginalized (6%).
However, less than 1% believe that there are no risks on the web.
Gen Z's perception of the web is, therefore, that of a dangerous place, over which greater control should be exercised
.
To prevent violence that comes from the internet, for 6 out of 10 kids, greater regulation of it would be useful.
Only 8%, however, would see a risk to their personal freedom with an increase in such regulation.
It is significant to note that 30% think that greater regulation would not lead to any changes in terms of protection.
“Adopting stringent rules that can prevent and limit online violence is increasingly fundamental.
Today the same boys and girls are asking us.
And it is our duty to listen to them, and continue to dialogue with them to raise awareness on these aspects, because they are the first victims of increasingly violent and increasingly pervasive online language and attitudes."
, says Paolo Ferrara, General Director of Terre des Hommes Italia.
Precisely to prevent and combat all forms of online violence against minors, the Foundation has presented a proposal for legislative reform which aims to guarantee more effective protection for victims of online crimes.
“The indifesa Observatory is a privileged access point to the needs of very young people, now a fixed point of listening and discussion, but which then becomes involvement and concrete participation thanks to the indifesa Network, to projects together with the sporting world, to the creation of dedicated spaces to them, as the defenseless Space Hub.”
Ferrara concludes.
“The Observatory highlights how online violence has a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of young people.
In particular,
cyberbullying compromises the safety and emotional integrity of children and has long-term consequences,
including eating disorders, depression and difficulty concentrating at school.
The Observatory's target audience,
GenZ, shows that they are aware of the dangers they face online
and for this reason they ask that ad hoc regulations be studied and that educational programs be introduced at school to promote a safer and healthier online environment for everyone", comments Gaia Marzo, Corporate Communication Director, Equity partner of OneDay Group and member of the Scientific Committee of Indifesa.
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