Almost a third of children have experienced cyber bulliyng – and a fifth admit they've made hurtful comments to others.
A survey to coincide with Safer Internet Day found that three in 10 secondary school pupils and over a quarter of primary school pupils have had experiences online that concerned, upset or frightened them.
Education charity Tablets for Schools asked 7,443 pupils about their typical Internet behaviour and found that secrecy amongst teenagers is rife, with nearly a quarter not telling anyone if they've had a negative experience online.
The research also found that only 56 per cent of parents use internet filters to moderate content, despite the fact that half of secondary school pupils and over a quarter of primary school pupils communicate with strangers while using social media.
Separate research from Action for Children revealed that, of those who admitted to online bullying, nearly 60 per cent said they did so to fit in with a social group – and 43 per cent admitting to bullying others so they didn't become a target themselves.
The students also said peer pressure and feeling unhappy as reasons they had bullied others.