More than half of young gamers have been bullied while playing online, according to a report published Wednesday.
Over a period of four days, the ‘Ditch the Label’ organization surveyed 2,515 young people between the ages of 12 to 25 about their experiences of being subjected to, witnessing and perpetrating bullying in online gaming environments.
Ditch the Label, an anti-bullying charity, said that 57 percent of young people experienced bullying while playing online games. The charity’s research also found that 22 percent of gamers stopped playing as a result of online bullying.
Meanwhile, one in seven children admitted to bullying others online, many of them claiming they did so to avoid being targeted themselves.
One of the charity’s previous studies found that young people who experienced bullying in real life were the most likely to seek refuge online, particularly though online games, according to Liam Hackett, the founder of Ditch the Label.
“Young people who are subjected to bullying offline are some of the biggest consumers of the internet and technology and subsequently more likely than average to use online games for escapism and to be free of ridicule and abuse. It is this relationship that makes our findings all too pressing and real. Bullying within online gaming environments is a real issue,” Hackett said.
U.K.-based Ditch the Label claims to be the largest anti-bullying support hub in the world.
