'Cyber-bullying' crackdown launched

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The new guidance is designed to help schools, pupils and parents tackle so-called "cyber-bullying".

A recent study by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) showed that up to 34% of 12 to 15-year-olds had experienced some form of cyber-bullying.

There is also growing concern from teaching unions that school staff are increasingly falling victim to bullies who send abusive text messages or emails and post offensive clips on the internet.

The new measures were developed in consultation with anti-bullying experts, mobile phone companies and websites including Bebo, MySpace and YouTube.

An online campaign called 'Laugh At It And You're A Part Of It' will run on teenage networking websites for six weeks and a short film will be available for teachers to screen in classrooms.

Schools will also receive guidance on drawing up anti-bullying policies to cover cyber-bullying, how to have offensive or malicious material removed from websites, and confiscating equipment.

The package will be supported by peer mentoring schemes in which older pupils will help teachers tackle the problem and a programme which aims to prevent poor behaviour by teaching pupils about conflict resolution and the consequences of their actions.

The DCSF has also released practical tips to avoid cyber-bullying, including not responding to malicious texts or emails, saving evidence of cyber-bullying and reporting them, keeping passwords safe, and not giving out mobile phone numbers and other personal details over the internet.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: "We now have an advanced approach to cyber-bullying, thanks in no small part to the cooperation with the industry, teaching unions and charities. This guidance gives teachers and parents all the knowledge they need to tackle the problem effectively in schools."