One in 10 kids bullied by picture phone, survey suggests

LONDON - One in 10 children say they have been threatened or made uncomfortable by people taking a photograph of them with a mobile phone, according to a survey.

UK children's charity NCH said nearly a sixth of this total believed their image had then been sent to someone else.

A recent craze of "happy slapping", where random attacks on strangers are filmed by camera phone, has fuelled concerns about youth crime in Britain where tackling anti-social behaviour is a top political issue.

The NCH said in a survey that around one in seven children also reported having received a bullying or threatening text message, roughly the same level discovered in a similar survey conducted by the charity in 2002.

"A mobile phone is one of a child's most treasured personal possessions," NCH said.

"So if the mobile starts being used to harass a child, be it through text or camera phone bullying, it can seem like there is no escape," it added.

NCH said it was worrying that more than a quarter (28 per cent) of those experiencing some kind of digital bullying by text, email or in an internet chatroom failed to tell anyone about it.

In response, the charity has set up a website with Tesco Mobile -- www.stoptextbully.com -- to encourage children to talk to an adult or friend about mobile phone bullying.

Virtually every 12-16 year old in Britain owns a mobile phone, while around four million young people there own a camera-enabled handset, according to data from market researcher Mobile Youth.

NCH interviewed 770 youngsters aged 11 to 19 for the survey.

- REUTERS