With most children and young people on devices in their free time, online child-on-child abuse has become more common. But while they may understand the concept of bullying and cyberbullying, child-on-child abuse is far more complex. Many young people may not realise that behaviours like sharing nudes or violent images is abusive.
We created this tips guide with insight from online safety expert Karl Hopwood and psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos to help children and young people understand child-on-child abuse and how to deal with it if it happens.
Child-on-child abuse is when one child or young person causes harm to another. It can look like a lot of different things. These are some of them:
From the comments you make on social media to how you interact with people in video games, positive interactions help people feel happy and safe online. That also means calling out or reporting behaviour that isn’t so positive.
Healthy behaviours make people feel good about themselves. And they make you feel good about yourself too!
Support people online by following, liking, commenting nice messages and playing video games together.
Recognise what child-on-child abuse looks like so you can help stop it from happening. Anything that makes another young person feel uncomfortable or unsafe because of another young person could be child-on-child abuse.
All smartphones and apps have their own privacy and security settings. With a trusted adult, set these up to help you feel safe online.
You have a powerful voice that can put an end to anything that makes you or someone else feel unsafe or uncomfortable.
Some people worry that no one will listen or that it will only make it worse, but keeping silent will make sure nothing ever gets better. So make sure you report everything — big or small — and keep reporting it.
Tell a trusted adult like a parent, carer or teacher. Or, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to someone you know, you can call/text/message services like Childline and The Mix to speak with someone anonymous.
See related advice and practical tips to support children online: