By Sifiso Ngobese
Digital technology has transformed childhood. It has changed how young people learn, communicate, access information and participate in society. For the basic education sector, technology presents significant opportunities to expand access to learning and information, strengthen teaching and prepare learners for an increasingly digital world.
But greater access also brings greater responsibility.
The same digital platforms that connect young people can expose them to bullying, harassment, intimidation, exploitation and harmful content. Cyberbullying, sometimes referred to as e-bullying, occurs when digital devices or platforms are used deliberately to hurt, threaten, embarrass, intimidate or humiliate another person.
Unlike traditional bullying, which may end when a learner leaves the school grounds, cyberbullying can follow a child home. A harmful post, photograph, video or message can be shared repeatedly and reach a much wider audience within minutes. For a young person, there may therefore be very little separation between what happens at school and what happens online.
This requires us to rethink what we mean when we speak about a safe school.
Safety can no longer be understood only in terms of what happens inside a classroom or within the physical boundaries of a school. The wellbeing of learners increasingly extends into the digital environments in which they communicate, socialise and learn.
Recent research referenced in this discussion illustrates the scale of the challenge. A 2026 study by Stellenbosch University and Artefact South Africa involving teenagers at five fee-paying Quintile 5 high schools found that 63.9% of participants had been involved in cyberbullying as victims, perpetrators or both. While the study is not nationally representative, its findings provide an important indication of the behaviours that can emerge in digital spaces used by young people.
For the Department of Basic Education, cyberbullying must therefore be understood as part of the broader work of building safe, caring and supportive learning environments.
School safety must extend into the digital world
The sector’s response is anchored in the National School Safety Framework, which provides schools with a structured approach to preventing and managing threats to learner and educator safety.
The Framework assists schools to identify risks, establish school safety structures and develop appropriate responses to challenges including violence, bullying, substance abuse and cyberbullying. School Safety Committees are particularly important because sustainable safety cannot depend on responding only after an incident has occurred.
Prevention, early identification, reporting, appropriate intervention and support must form part of the everyday culture of a school.
This work is complemented by educational and awareness programmes undertaken across the sector. The department continues to use campaigns, school programmes and engagements with learners, educators and communities to address violence and bullying, including conduct that originates or continues online.
Importantly, digital safety cannot be the responsibility of the education sector alone.
The department has therefore worked with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and Google through online-safety workshops aimed at strengthening awareness of the risks children encounter online and promoting safer and more responsible participation in digital environments.
These partnerships recognise an important reality: digital literacy is not simply about knowing how to operate a device. It must increasingly include understanding privacy, responsible online behaviour, digital footprints, misinformation, cyberbullying and what children should do when they encounter harmful behaviour or content online.
As access to technology expands, digital citizenship must become part of how we prepare children to participate responsibly in society.
Clearer boundaries are increasingly important
There is also a broader conversation that the education sector must continue to have about appropriate digital interaction between adults and children.
Technology has made communication between schools, educators, learners and parents easier. Used appropriately, digital platforms can support teaching, provide information quickly and strengthen communication between schools and families.
However, convenience cannot come at the expense of safeguarding.
Schools need clear governance arrangements governing digital communication, the use of mobile devices and social-media interaction. Communication involving educators and learners should take place through transparent and accountable arrangements where appropriate boundaries can be maintained, and misconduct can be identified and addressed.
This is part of the wider responsibility of creating environments in which children are protected both physically and digitally.
Parents and communities remain essential partners
Government and schools cannot address cyberbullying alone.
Parents and guardians have an equally important role. Conversations about online safety should begin at home and should happen regularly, rather than only after something has gone wrong.
Parents should take an active interest in the digital environments their children use, understand the applications and social-media platforms they access, discuss appropriate online behaviour and create an environment in which children feel able to report uncomfortable or harmful experiences.
Children should also understand that reporting cyberbullying is not an act of weakness. It is an important step towards stopping harmful behaviour.
Where cyberbullying occurs, evidence should be preserved. Screenshots of posts and messages, voice notes, photographs, videos and other digital material can assist schools and, where necessary, law-enforcement authorities in responding appropriately.
South Africa also has a legal framework that provides protection against various forms of harmful online conduct. Depending on the nature of the behaviour, legislation dealing with cybercrime, harassment, child protection and harmful digital content may become relevant. The Protection from Harassment Act, for example, provides mechanisms through which victims of harassment may seek protection.
But legislation alone will never be enough.
Our most effective defence is a culture in which children understand the consequences of their online behaviour; adults model responsible digital conduct; schools have functioning safety systems; parents remain engaged; technology platforms exercise responsibility; and government departments work together.
The objective cannot simply be to keep children away from technology. Technology is already embedded in the world in which they are growing up.
Our responsibility is to equip them to navigate that world safely, critically and responsibly.
A safer internet therefore begins with all of us.
Schools must educate and protect. Parents must remain engaged. Technology companies must strengthen safeguards. Communities must challenge harmful behaviour. Learners themselves must understand that the dignity and rights of another person do not disappear simply because an interaction takes place behind a screen.
Protecting children from cyberbullying is ultimately part of the same responsibility that guides all our work in basic education: ensuring that every child can learn, participate and grow in an environment in which they feel safe, respected and supported.
*Ngobese is Director: School Safety at the Department of Basic Education
