Police actions with regard to cyberbullying: The Belgian case

Research shows that cyberbullying is a common phenomenon amongst youngsters, with potentially severe negative effects. Besides students, parents, schools, and Internet Service Providers, the police have been identified as an important actor in approaches against cyberbullying. Departing from the situation in Belgium, this article describes how the police can: help to prevent cyberbullying, by informing students, parents, and schools about the issue; play a role in the detection of cyberbullying, for instance, by creating online reporting systems (apart from the offline channels) and finally, assist in handling existing cyberbullying cases, by identifying perpetrators and helping victims.