It recommended confiscating mobile phones and laptops from all children in order to avoid any chance of bullying but I don’t believe that will solve the problem. Children should be able to continue using their mobile phones without harassment and benefit from the safety benefits a mobile phone can provide to them, such as always being contactable, GPS tracking and mobile payment provision enabling the child to request payments for taxis and the like.

Studies show parents will pay a premium for the ability to blacklist individual numbers and block messages to prevent such persecution. Parents want to feel protected by their mobile operator and want their children to be able to use their phone safely and responsibly. It is the mobile operator who has the capacity to monitor all types of traffic to and from the child’s phone and it is the mobile operator who can put in place stringent security measures to protect children from inappropriate content.

Lorcan Burke, CEO, AdaptiveMobile, Dublin, Ireland

It's no different to when I was a kid, except we used to pass around scratty bits of paper with either amusing pictures of our teachers on or some mocking comment - it's what kids do and shouldn't be deemed bullying. Look in any newspaper on any day, you're going to find pictures of authority figures being mocked - should we stop that too ?? There should be a line drawn between playful mockery and threatening behaviour and the path its currently going down doesn't seem to recognise this.

Paul, Wetherby,

Preventing bullying is everyone's responsibility,after all the psychological effects can be felt by society for generations.The You Tube site cops out of its responsibility,and the more conservative newspapers have only one solution "come down harder on the bullies".I wouldn't rule out the latter,but I think we have to be broader and smarter than that,many bullies for instance have troubled/damaged home lives where violence is the norm.This doesn't create an excuse for bullying,but there is a different set of problems created by inter family norms of violence.Bullying seems to thrive in our "me first"society ,where children are treated as little prince's/princess's with no incentive to think in a socially responsible fashion,and where bullying is the norm in business,sport (im thinking of the awful messages that come from formula one at the moment),and warfare.Boundaries,love and respect for others in all aspects of life would seem to me the most logical solution.

Rob, Plymouth, UK