The impact of cyberbullying on Spanish youth: The challenge of protecting them in a hyperconnected world

Teenagers face an environment where one in four young people suffer cyberbullying, which is the main cause of them feeling emotionally unwell.

This bullying is not an isolated situation on the internet: 72% of boys and girls who suffer it also suffer bullying at school, creating a continuous cycle of abuse from which they cannot escape, even when they get home.

Mental health in check

Lara Contreras, Director of Influence, Programs, and Partnerships at UNICEF Spain, focused her speech on the profound impact of cyberbullying on young people’s mental health, reflecting on a series of very revealing statistics:

– One in four minors feels they have had a mental health problem in the last year.

– One in three decides to suffer in silence without telling anyone.

– 72% of young people who suffer cyberbullying also suffer face-to-face bullying at school.

AI, an accelerator of harassment

Diana Díaz, director of the ANAR Foundation, highlighted that the evolution of cyberbullying presents new and worrying factors:

– Doubled cyberbullying: In the last school year, cases of cyberbullying have doubled, driven significantly by Artificial Intelligence.

– The trap of fake content: AI tools are being used primarily to create fake videos (deepfakes) by manipulating images or voices, and to impersonate minors in order to mock them.

– The role of the family: Adults’ initial reaction is crucial. If parents react with excessive nervousness when they discover the bullying, the child will shut down. Families must offer reassurance, support, and open dialogue.

Young people, drivers of change

Sonsoles Romero, a young member of the UNICEF Advisory Group, provided the essential perspective of those who have grown up with digital space integrated into their socialization.

– A singled-out generation: She called for an end to the criminalization of young people for using platforms that are actually designed and governed by adults and corporate interests focused on generating massive traffic.

– Breaking the stigma: Her generation is leading the change to end the taboo surrounding mental health, encouraging people to talk about pain and creating spaces for peer support.

False impunity on the internet

Inés Puig-Samper, lawyer and patron of the Fernando Pombo Foundation, was responsible for debunking the belief that abuse in the digital environment has no consequences.

– Criminal offenses: Behaviors such as circulating intimate photos (sextortion) or adults making deceptive contact with minors (grooming) are already crimes included in the Criminal Code that carry prison sentences.

– Survival strategy (The Evidence): The most common mistake is to delete the content for fear of it going viral. The strategy should be to secure the digital evidence with screenshots certified by a public official (notary or court) or technological platforms, and then go to the police with evidence that is admissible in court.

New threats in the digital environment

The conversation included terms that are beginning to gain traction and relevance due to their implications for the digital well-being of young people:

– Cyberbullying: Harassment, humiliation, or intimidation through digital media.

– Sextortion: A form of blackmail in which a person is threatened or coerced with the non-consensual dissemination of intimate photos or videos.

– Child grooming: This is a very serious criminal practice in which adults contact children under the age of 16, often anonymously on social media.

– Sexting: This refers to the circulation and forwarding of intimate images or videos without the permission of the person portrayed.

Conclusions

– Support and Family Literacy: Prevention begins with overcoming the fear of technology. Adults cannot remain on the sidelines; they must “get involved” in social media, get to know their children’s role models (such as streamers), and guide them through support rather than outright prohibition.

– Joint Actions: There is an urgent need to promote global and cross-sectoral movements that encourage early detection. This includes providing mobile community units, training school environments, and delivering direct emotional resources to families.

– Active responsibility of the private sector: The panelists demanded that technology companies and video game creators take on a preventive role, incorporating time limit warnings and agile mechanisms into their platforms that automatically detect cyberbullying in order to eliminate it.

The goal is not to engage in an extreme debate about how many hours to disconnect, but to move from passive concern to active collaboration between families, schools, legislators, and technology companies, ensuring safe environments for children and adolescents.