Online bullying is becoming a disturbing phenomenon among teenagers. The latest study on the different forms of violence in the 11-13 and 15-year-old age group, conducted in 44 European countries, including Albania, has highlighted that bullying increases with age.

In an interview for Euronews Albania, the head of the study for Albania, Genta Qirjako, says that greater access to social networks has led to this situation.

“In general, physical fights and bullying are stable, what is noticed is an increase in online bullying. 13% of 11-year-old boys and 22% of 15-year-old boys have been bullied. Girls are 7% 11 years old, 10% 13 years old and 9% 15 years old”, said Genta Qirjako, specialist of Institute of Public Health (ISHP).

A special characteristic for Albania are the physical fights among children, which have an opposite direction to the European trend.

“Which means younger children have a higher percentage of involvement in physical fights than older children. Currently, 1 in 4 11-year-old children has reported being involved in a physical fight compared to 1 in 10 at the age of 15”, said Genta Qirjako, ISHP specialist.

The experts have made a ranking of the countries, as far as bullying towards others is concerned, Albania ranks 23rd for 11-year-olds, 13th for 13-year-olds and 8th for 15-year-olds. For online bullying, 20th on 11-year-olds, 12th on 13-year-olds and 7th on 15-year-olds. And when it comes to physical fights, Albania ranks 4th on 11-year-olds and 8th on 15-year-olds.