Malta may be an island, but it has not been spared the growing phenomenon of online bullying that made headlines this month when a British girl killed herself after being bullied on a social network.

Hannah Smith, 14, was found hanged in her bedroom by her 16-year-old sister Jo, after she was bullied on a question-and-answer website called Ask.fm, which is becoming popular among Maltese teenagers.

The fear of exclusion may drive some teenagers to accepting any form of behaviour

Her death follows that of three other British children linked since September to the social networking website, which many want to see shut down before anyone else harms themselves.

Ingrid Grech Lanfranco, a counselling psychologist, family therapist and head of counselling at Church organisation Cana, told Times of Malta cyberbullying was increasing in Malta.

“While I am not aware of statistics on the incidence in Malta, it has become more evident, when listening to teenagers and their parents, that this phenomenon is highly present in our country in its different forms,” she said.

Some people are unaware that what they are experiencing over the net is actually cyberbullying.

It was a growing problem with implications on different levels, especially with the increased use of modern technology, she added.

Launched in 2010, Latvian-based Ask.fm already has 65 million users.

Users have to register an e-mail address, as well as name and date of birth, but messages can be posted anonymously.

Hannah, who killed herself on August 2, had been told to “drink bleach” and “go cut yourself and die” after she turned to the website for help with her eczema.

Dr Grech Lanfranco noted that teenagers tended to increase their time and contact with peers during this development stage.

The need for acceptance by peers, being part of a group and being included were all a normal part of this period, impacting on their level of self-esteem.

“The fear of exclusion may drive some teenagers to accepting any form of behaviour and treatment from others they consider to be their friends.”

With cyberbullying – where e-mails, instant messaging, websites and chats were used to deliberately pick on or torment others, with far-reaching exposure and effects – a teenager can be quickly and easily ridiculed, Ms Grech Lanfranco explained.

“Considering such a vulnerable age, where the teenager does not want to appear to be different from the rest, and wants others’ approval, such an action of bullying is experienced as losing face.

“They feel that they are exposed as being different, weird, and losers – all that they strive so hard not to be.”

The parents of Josh Unsworth, 15, who was found dead in his parents’ garden in Lancashire in April, told the media they used to monitor Josh’s internet use “but children always find a way”.

Ms Grech Lanfranco believes parents should speak to their children about risks that may arise from friends and peers, while not impeding them from building healthy relationships.

She suggests establishing an agreement about using these new technologies.

“It is imperative that parents understand what cyberbullying is all about and how it works.

“They are primarily obliged to supervise their children’s activities online – for example who are they communicating with, what kind of exchanges are happening, what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

“Having clear internet and mobile phone use agreements with their children is also necessary although clearly not always easy for parents,” she said, adding it was fundamentally important to keep communications open.

She also suggested talking to the school their child attended, adding it was important to seek support in situations that could create a lot of anxiety and fear.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.