On Tuesday 19 August, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) published a concept paper on combating online and offline hate speech and bullying ‘in and through education’.
The study is based on a series of meetings of the Working Group on Equality and Values in Education and Training (2021-2025): an online meeting dedicated to hate speech (20-21 June 2024), a session in Brussels on (cyber)bullying (8-10 October 2024), a webinar dedicated to the involvement of parents and pupils (3 December 2024) and a peer learning activity organised by the Turkish Ministry of Education in Ankara (7-8 April 2025).
DG EAC reports that more than half of European pupils say they have already been victims of bullying and that almost 7% of pupils are frequently bullied.
It should also be noted that cyberbullying affects 15% of teenagers. All these forms of violence have serious consequences for our well-being.
Students who were frequently bullied have a level of life satisfaction that is 15 points lower than that of other students. Hate speech is also on the increase.
An analysis of 8 million online messages in 2023 showed a 30% increase in toxic content in nine months, while the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that more than half of the posts analysed, 53%, could be described as hateful.
Among the most vulnerable populations, 54% of LGBTQI young people say they have already been bullied at school and 67% have been the victims of negative comments.
The document lists the priorities formulated by the participants, who called for better education in digital practice and the issues involved, the development of citizenship education, and the promotion and improvement of interpersonal and emotional skills.
Read the document: https://aeur.eu/f/i4i (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)