Bullied Online but Not Telling Anyone : What Are the Reasons for Not Disclosing Cybervictimization?

Although telling an adult can be effective at ending bullying, not all bullied children tell someone about theirvictimization. The aim of the current study was to examine: 1) if being bullied online and not telling anyonewas associated with the perceived intensity and harm experienced from being bullied, 2) the reasons for nottelling anyone, and 3) if these reasons were related to the level of harm experienced from being bullied.The data used in this study consisted of responses from 451 Czech adolescents aged 12–18 who had beencyberbullied. The results showed that more boys (47%) than girls (19%) did not tell anyone about beingbullied online. There was an association between experienced harm and cybervictimization disclosure;42% of adolescents with little experience of harm did not tell anyone about it, which was more often than thecase for those adolescents with a medium level of harm (19%), and those with intense harm (19%). The reasonsfor not telling differed among groups, where intensely harmed adolescents more often reported that they did nottrust anyone and were afraid of making the situation worse and respondents with medium harm reportedto a greater extent not having anyone who could help them. The most common answer for adolescents witha low experience of harm was that they did not tell anyone because they thought they would manage on theirown (54%)