NEWS RELEASE Interviews with young people affected by bullying or a charity spokesperson are available on request.

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Young people say cyber bullying is getting worse, new survey shows New research carried out by the Diana Award Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme shows that 81% of young people think that cyber bullying is getting worse. In addition, one in four young people report that one of their friends has been bullied online or via a mobile phone during the summer holiday. In recent months, there has been a series of high profile cases of cyber bullying, some of which have sadly had tragic results. In Cyberbullying; how safe do our children feel?, young people express their concerns about cyber bullying, just days before they return to school to continue their education. The research, commissioned by the Diana Award, surveyed the views of 700 young people aged 8-22 across the UK. Other key findings include:

71% have experienced bullying at their school, college or university 28% would not tell someone if they were being bullied 38% believe their school, college or university doesnt take bullying seriously 41% say their school, college or university doesnt teach them about online safety 36% are worried about being bullied at their school, college or university

Alex Holmes, Anti-Bullying Programme Manager said: Many parents will be sending their children to school next week still unaware of the dangers that they face online both at school and in the safety of their own home. This research clearly shows that more needs to be done to protect children from cyber bullying. That is something we all have a responsibility to do. Tessy Ojo, CEO, Diana Award said: Our research has shown that 71% of young people have experienced bullying. The online and offline should be a safe place for our children, we must continue to educate young people and adults on the dangers and the correct way to behave online and offline. Our Antibullying Ambassadors Programme, gives young people the skills and confidence to tackle bullying in their communities, both off and online'. To date, over 5,000 young people volunteer and lead the Diana Award Anti-Bullying Ambassadors programme in schools throughout England. The Ambassadors make up a network of young people who share and develop best practices and who have

received training to help them present bullying prevention initiatives and provide ongoing peer support. For more information on the training programmes visit: www.diana-award.org.uk Media contact: Alex Holmes 0207 628 7499 ext. 206 Alex.holmes@diana-award.org.uk @abcholmes Notes to editor: Alex Holmes is the Anti-Bullying Programme Manager at The Diana Award, a charity running a national anti-bullying programme for the Department for Education. Watch this short YouTube video of our work in schools: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZMjfKvyWi0 and his own personal bullying experience/story: http://youtu.be/TPY6RK_bLbw More about the Diana Award Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme The Diana Award runs the peer-led Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme in schools and communities across England. There are currently 5000 Ambassadors that are trained to develop a range of preventative measures to keep their peers safe, this includes delivering online safety techniques to parents, rewriting schools acceptable ICT policy, behaviour management campaigns such as Smile and Compliment Days, drop-in support sessions and anti-bullying patrols around their playground.