Safer internet day: why education is central to tackling cyberbullying

What is cyberbullying?

Online abuse is not limited by physical or geographical borders. At the same time, definitions of cyberbullying currently vary across EU countries. This leads to fragmented national approaches and legal uncertainty.

To ensure a coordinated response across the Union, the action plan establishes a common EU understanding of cyberbullying:

Cyberbullying refers to behaviour carried out through digital technologies, with the intention or the effect of recurrently or continuously humiliating, excluding, abusing, harassing, harming or hurting a person or a group of people.

Facts and figures: cyberbullying in Europe

Recent data underline the urgency of coordinated action:

• The number of adolescents experiencing cyberbullying in Europe increased by approximately 25% for both girls and boys between 2018 and 2022.
• One in four children aged 12–17 responding to consultations on the EU Children’s Participation Platform reported having personally experienced cyberbullying and
• More than one in three reported having witnessed cyberbullying.
• Over the past five years, cyberbullying has been the main reason for children contacting the helplines of Safer Internet Centres, accounting for around 14% of all calls.

The EU Action Plan against Cyberbullying

The EU Action Plan against Cyberbullying responds to the fragmented nature of existing national approaches and the absence of a shared definition across EU countries. The plan builds on existing EU legislation and policy frameworks, in particular the Digital Services Act.

The action plan is structured around three pillars:

• A coordinated EU approach, inviting EU countries to develop national cyberbullying policies
• Prevention and awareness, with a strong focus on digital literacy for children, educators and caregivers
• Reporting and support, including the rollout of an accessible online safety app across all EU countries

Education as part of a shared responsibility

Preventing and addressing cyberbullying requires coordinated action across policy areas and levels of governance. Education policies play a long-term foundational role in fostering well-being and mental health, inclusion, resilience, and responsible digital behaviour from an early age.

Promoting well-being and mental health at school

Strong support for well-being and mental health at school helps prevent cyberbullying by fostering learning environments where students feel safe, valued, and empowered to act responsibly online.

Such support is best achieved through the ‘whole-school and whole-system' approach. This holistic approach focuses on prevention by engaging students, educators, parents, professionals such as psychologists and the wider community.

Key policy priorities include:

• Promoting positive school climates, based on respect, empathy, integrity, resilience and problem solving
• Integrating social and emotional education across curricula
• Supporting early and preventive action through evidence-based approaches
• Strengthening teacher training and professional development

The Commission has guidelines for supporting well-being at school for policymakers, school leaders, teachers and educators. These focus on implementing sustainable, prevention-oriented strategies.

Citizenship education and addressing hate in and through education

Cyberbullying reflects the attitudes and values embedded within society, making it both a symptom and a consequence of prevailing social norms. Cyberbullying is closely linked to broader challenges such as hate speech, discrimination and social exclusion. EU-level work on citizenship education and equality highlights the importance of education in preventing and addressing these phenomena.

A European Education Area Working Group on Equality and Values has identified key success factors, including:

• Clear institutional policies and leadership
• Safe and supportive classroom environments
• Teacher training to recognise and address different forms of bullying and hate speech
• Engagement with parents, communities and civil society

The working group’s issue paper on countering hate in and through education emphases the need for comprehensive approaches that combine legal frameworks, educational initiatives, and community engagement.

It presents current trends across the EU and beyond, outlines key EU and international initiatives, and identifies the main challenges faced by educators, learners, parents and policy makers. The paper features inspiring practices and the latest research to support effective action against hate speech and bullying.

As its final deliverable, the working group developed a compendium of 100 mutual learning practices showcasing concrete examples from across Europe, supporting peer learning among education systems.

Digital literacy and responsible digital citizenship

Under the Digital Education Action Plan, the Commission supports education systems through updated guidance and evidence-based frameworks with a view to strengthen digital skills and help young people make responsible and informed choices online.

Young people need to have the digital literacy skills to actively engage with online content in a safe manner and to confidently recognise risks when using technology both for leisure and for educational purposes.

The Joint Research Centre’s study on promoting well-being in digital education proposes a model of emerging practices to help integrate well-being into digital learning through a whole-school approach, covering pedagogy, digital readiness, inclusion and sustainable implementation.

This work complements the upcoming update of the Guidelines for teachers on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy. Planned for spring 2026, the updated guidelines will address areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), social media and influencers, and will include lesson plans and resources to address cyberbullying.