Misery of text threats to teens

Jun 7 2005 By James Cartledge, Evening Mail

ALMOST one in five city teenagers are being plagued by bullies who bombard them with text threats or insults, it emerged today.

A new poll reveals 16 per cent of 11 to 19-year-olds had been bullied or threatened via their mobile phone or computer across the West Midlands.

Camera phones were also found to be a huge problem with victims having threatening or embarrassing pictures taken of them.

A website offering help to young bullying victims, www.stoptextbully.com was today launched with the backing of children's charity NCH.

"Being bullied by mobile phone can be terrifying for a child or teenager and it can feel like there is no escape," said NCH spokesman John Carr.

"This research reveals the massive scale of mobile bullying and shows how camera phones are being used by bullies to frighten and intimidate their victims.

"This extremely worrying phenomenon highlights the urgent need to tackle mobile bullying before it ruins more lives."

The website is also backed by Tesco Mobile, which has launched a text back service to enable youngsters to get help with mobile bullying.

Mobile users can text the word BULLY to 60000 to receive a message with advice on how to get support.