Irish teenagers report worryingly high levels of cyber bullying- a quarter of teens say they have experienced it.
Teenagers in 11 countries were surveyed by YouGov for Vodafone and Ireland reported the fourth highest levels of intimidation.
Overall, 18% of the 13-18 year-olds questioned reported having been cyber bullied but in Ireland that figure was much higher at 26%.
A quarter of the Irish people who took part said bullying had caused them to feel suicidal.
By comparison, of the ten other countries surveyed, only New Zealand (30%), the US (27% and South Africa (24%) had higher rates of bullying.
In the UK, 15% of teenagers reported bullying, while Spain and the Czech Republic had the lowest figures at 8% each.
Researchers (who spoke to 5,000 teenagers) found more than half fear cyber bullying more than face-to-face bullying.
43% of teens think cyber bullying is a bigger problem than drug abuse and 41% commented that cyber bullying has made them feel depressed or helpless.
For parents one of those worrying finds is that 38% do not tell their Mum or Dad they are being bullied.
Levels of reported bullying across the 11 surveyed countries. Infographic: Vodafone.com/bestrong
In response, Vodafone has created a suite of "support emojis" which it is trying to get placed on social network platforms.
The idea for a ‘support emoji’ came from anti-bullying ambassador Monica Lewinsky, who has been employed as a consultant by the communications company.
Vodafone's BeStrong emojis. Infographic: Vodafone.com/bestrong
The Vodafone Foundation is donating 14 cents for every Twitter retweet or public Facebook like of the #BeStrong emojis posted on Vodafone's social media channels, up to €140,000.
