Recent findings from the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre on resilience (June 2025) point to a clear and important message: young people are not simply passive victims of online harm. They are active participants in complex social environments, navigating friendships, conflict, identity, and belonging across both online and offline spaces. However, their ability to cope with these challenges, what we call digital resilience, varies significantly, and it is shaped not just by individual skills, but by relationships, school culture, and the wider systems around them.
A key insight from the research is that many students encounter negative online experiences, ranging from exclusion and name-calling to more persistent forms of bullying, but do not always feel equipped to respond effectively. This is not simply a matter of “knowing what to do.” Rather, it reflects issues of confidence, peer norms, and uncertainty about consequences. For example, students who witness harmful behaviour online often hesitate to intervene, not because they don’t care, but because they are unsure how to act without making things worse.
Importantly, resilience is not about telling young people to “toughen up” or manage on their own. That approach risks placing too much responsibility on the individual while ignoring the social dynamics that drive bullying behaviour. Instead, resilience should be understood as something that is built collectively through supportive relationships, clear expectations, and opportunities to practice positive responses.
So, what can be done in practical terms?
For Students: Small Actions, Big Impact
Young people themselves play a crucial role in shaping safer online environments. A few key steps can make a real difference:
- Pause before responding: If something upsetting happens online, taking a moment before reacting can prevent escalation. Not every comment needs an immediate reply.
- Use available tools: Blocking, muting, and reporting features exist for a reason. Knowing how to use them and feeling confident in doing so is an important part of digital literacy.
- Support others: If you see someone being targeted, a simple supportive message can reduce their sense of isolation. You don’t have to “fix” the situation, just showing that you care matters.
- Talk to someone you trust: Whether it’s a friend, parent, or teacher, sharing concerns early can help prevent situations from becoming more serious.
For Parents: Staying Engaged Without Taking Over
Parents often feel unsure about how best to support their children in the digital world. The research suggests that open, ongoing engagement is far more effective than strict control or surveillance.
- Start conversations early and keep them going: Ask about your child’s online experiences in a general, non-judgemental way. This builds trust and makes it more likely they will come to you if something goes wrong.
- Focus on skills, not just risks: Instead of only warning about dangers, help your child develop the skills to manage challenges, such as how to respond to conflict or recognise unhealthy interactions.
- Model positive behaviour: Children learn from what they see. Demonstrating respectful communication, online and offline, sets a powerful example.
- Know when to step in: If a situation involves repeated harm, significant distress, or safety concerns, it is appropriate to take a more active role and seek support from the school or other services.
For Schools and Communities: Creating the Conditions for Resilience
While this article focuses on students and parents, the wider environment is critical. Schools that foster a positive, inclusive culture, where students feel safe to speak up and where bullying is addressed as a group process rather than an individual problem, create the strongest foundation for resilience.
This means moving beyond one-off lessons or awareness campaigns and instead embedding digital wellbeing into everyday practice. It also means recognising the overlap between online and offline experiences: what happens in the classroom, the corridor, or the sports field often carries over into the digital space.
A Shared Responsibility
Ultimately, building digital resilience is not about finding a single solution. It is about recognising that young people’s experiences of bullying and online harm are shaped by a network of influences including peers, families, schools, and wider societal norms. When these work together, resilience is not something young people have to struggle to develop on their own; it becomes part of the environment around them.
By taking small, practical steps, and by staying connected to young people’s lived experiences, we can move towards a more supportive and responsive approach to tackling bullying in all its forms.
Prof James O’Higgins Norman
UNESCO Chair on Bullying and Cyberbullying
Dublin City University, Ireland