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Cyber bullying: Only Boys Aloud member shares his story

Shocking figures have been released on the number of our children and young people who are being bullied online.

The information comes from the Princes Trust. They've found 14% of youngsters report being bullied online. 20% of youngsters say they've seen more bullying online than in person

39% of the youngsters have friends online who they've never met face to face.

ITV Wales has been hearing from one young victim, who's a member of the celebrated Welsh choir, Only Boys Aloud.

You can see more on tonight's edition of 'Hacio' - on S4C at 9.55pm.

Only Boys Aloud's Morgan Westcott shares cyber-bullying story

The modern world of reality TV and social media has helped make a star of Morgan Westcott - a singer in choir Only Boys Aloud - but it's also made him a victim of cyber bullying.

It comes as figures released by The Prince's Trust show one in five young people have been bullied online.

You can see more on our current affairs programme 'Hacio' - on S4C at 9.55pm tonight.

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Welsh Government: Bullying should be recorded and acted upon

Bullying of any kind is totally unacceptable. In October last year, we published a suite of comprehensive anti-bullying guidance which includes a specific section on homophobic bullying.

The guidance advises on preventing, responding to and monitoring and recording homophobic bullying. Good recording procedures allow schools to demonstrate that they are taking steps to tackle bullying, and that initiatives are effective.

We would encourage all local authorities to work with schools in adopting systems to record incidents of homophobic bullying and ensuring they are acted upon.

– Welsh Government spokesperson

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Plaid: Councils 'in the dark' over school homophobic bullying

Welsh councils are 'in the dark' over incidents of homophobic bullying at schools, because many don't record them, a Plaid Cymru AM says.

This Plaid survey is worrying because it reveals that most local authorities are in the dark over the extent of homophobic bullying and, possibly, bullying generally. Some local authorities like Ceredigion and Conwy clearly have systems in place to record this information which is to be applauded. Knowing the extent of any problem is key to dealing with it, so something needs to change. Schools need to pass on information to local authorities or local authorities need to ask them to pass it on. It is also important that we know incidents are also being dealt with.

– Lindsay Whittle AM, Plaid Cymru Shadow Equalities spokesperson

The party contacted councils with Freedom of Information requests - and the majority of Wales' 22 local authorities said they didn't keep records, as it was done by schools.

Lindsay Whittle says 'the Welsh Government may need to take action to ensure that incidents of bullying, including homophobic bullying, are recorded and acted on.'

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