More school girls fall victim to cyberbullies

Growing numbers of girls are being bullied by classmates on social networking websites, a leading private school headmistress warned today.

Jill Berry, president of the Girls' Schools Association, warned that parents were increasingly concerned and turning to teachers for help.

The warning follows a series of teenage suicides apparently linked to bullying over the internet.

Mrs Berry, headmistress of Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford, said the dangers of the internet topped the list of parents' concerns.

"Social networking sites, internet dangers and bullying using new technologies top the list by some margin - issues that only a few years ago we had no idea would become so prevalent," she said.

"Parents often don't understand privacy settings. They have difficulty in making it clear to their daughters that once a message is out in cyberspace it is irretrievable.

"They ask us what to do about their daughters being on the receiving end of 'We hate x' sites or 'honesty boxes' where comments about each other can be posted anonymously. These problems have overtaken their concerns about the girls' face-to-face contact in school."

Girls are not more cruel than boys, as is often claimed, Mrs Berry said.

"But if they wish to be unkind they are so much more subtle than boys, and technology has given them new tools."

Charities estimate that about 20 suicides are attributable to bullying every year. Yesterday the parents of 17-year-old Matthew Jones, from Blackpool, spoke out after he was driven to suicide by cyberbullies.

Matthew's parents told the News of the World that he had been chatting to an internet suicide group online before his death last year. They called for such sites to be closed.

Mrs Berry said schools were required to help children cope with a range of other problems such as divorce and exam stress.

Speaking at the GSA's annual conference in Harrogate, she said: "Sadly, marital breakdown is a common feature of the society in which we live and parents often need our help to manage the situation in such a way as to mitigate the pain the girls inevitably experience as a result.

"Schools can provide crucial stability at the most difficult of times."