From Classroom to Group Chat: Understanding Cyberbullying in School Sport
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For young people, online and offline relationships are deeply interconnected. A conflict that starts at school can continue in a group chat or on social media, while online aggression can affect relationships when pupils return to the classroom, changing room or sports field. A narrative review at Charles University examines what this overlap means for cyberbullying prevention in physical education and school sport.
Inside the Research is UAOA’s Erasmus+ Researcher Interview Series, spotlighting the researchers contributing to the European Union co-funded programme Developing a Pan-European Framework to Combat Online Abuse in Sport. Each edition looks inside one national study to explore the core questions being asked, the emerging evidence and what the findings could mean for the future of sport.
At the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Charles University in Prague, Klára Budínová, a Master’s student specialising in swimming coaching, is examining cyberbullying through the lens of physical education and school sport. Alongside her studies, she teaches swimming, skiing, snowboarding and paddlesports and works with international students, bringing practical experience with young people to her academic work. Her narrative review, Cyberbullying in the School Environment: Implications for Physical Education and School Sport, brings together Czech and international evidence to examine how cyberbullying is defined, how it intersects with offline peer relationships, why many young people do not seek help, and what this means for teachers and sport professionals.
Read on to find out the preliminary results of the research.
Cyberbullying does not stay online
One message stands out across the literature: cyberbullying is not an exclusively digital problem.
For children and adolescents, online and offline relationships are closely intertwined. A conflict may begin at school, continue in group chats (or even social media) and reappear in face-to-face interactions later on. Online aggression can therefore affect relationships, behaviour and peer dynamics when pupils return to school.
Czech evidence reviewed by Klára illustrates this overlap clearly. In one study, 71% of cyberbullying victims had also experienced traditional bullying, 88% knew the aggressor personally, and in 58% of cases the aggressor attended the same school. Another Czech study found that 78% of aggressors attended the same school as the victim, with 51% coming from the same class.
These figures challenge the idea of cyberbullying as predominantly anonymous behaviour involving strangers. Instead, the evidence points to a strong connection between digital aggression and existing peer relationships.
For schools, the implication is clear: prevention cannot focus on technology alone. Peer relationships, communication, trust and school climate are also central to prevention.
Why physical education deserves particular attention
Physical education and school sports create social dynamics that differ from the conventional classroom.
Pupils perform in front of peers, compete in teams, use changing rooms and communicate through class or team group chats. Photographs and videos may also be taken and shared without consent, creating particular risks around privacy, image sharing, peer dynamics and social exclusion.
These same settings may also create opportunities for recognition and support. PE teachers observe pupils during teamwork, competition and less structured interactions, where changes in behaviour, exclusion or tensions within peer groups may be more visible than in the classroom.
Their role is not to investigate online behaviour, but to notice changes, build trust and help pupils access support when needed.
Yet the evidence base remains limited. While the connection between online and offline peer relationships is well established, cyberbullying in physical education and school sport has received comparatively little direct research attention. Most existing evidence still comes from the broader school context.
A major challenge: many young people do not ask for help
Recognising that something is wrong does not mean that a young person will tell someone.
Recent Czech evidence reviewed in the study found that 58% of young people who had experienced online aggression did not seek help from anyone. Only 7% reported the experience to a teacher.
The literature identifies several possible barriers. Young people may prefer to handle the situation themselves. They may believe adults do not understand digital environments, or feel they know more about technology than their parents or teachers. Some may also fear that speaking up will result in losing access to a phone, social media or the internet. Concerns about confidentiality can create an additional barrier to approaching teachers.
For Klára, this shifts part of the focus from simply telling young people to report abuse towards creating conditions in which they feel safe doing so.
A supportive response matters. Adults can listen calmly, take the experience seriously and avoid treating removal of technology as the automatic solution. Restricting access alone may increase isolation and make a young person less willing to disclose similar experiences in the future.
The role of teachers and coaches is therefore not to become digital investigators. It is to notice, listen, support and know when further help is needed.
Prevention goes beyond digital safety
The review also points to a broader understanding of prevention.
Online safety skills remain important, but they are only one part of the response. The evidence reviewed by Klára also emphasises supportive relationships, positive school climates, social and emotional skills, and open communication with young people.
This becomes increasingly relevant as digital risks evolve. The review highlights emerging issues such as the misuse of artificial intelligence to create fake intimate images, reinforcing the limits of prevention approaches based only on specific platforms or technologies.
For physical education and school sport, practical guidance can also address situations that arise specifically within these environments: consent when taking or sharing photographs and videos, privacy in changing rooms, communication through group chats and the management of peer and team relationships.
The aim is not to expect every teacher to master every new technology. It is to ensure that professionals working with young people have clear procedures, understand potential warning signs and know how to connect a pupil with appropriate support.
Reading prevalence figures carefully
The review also highlights an important methodological issue: not every negative online experience is cyberbullying.
A recent Czech study involving 42,772 pupils aged 13 to 17 identified high levels of several forms of online aggression, including verbal aggression, humiliating image sharing and threats or intimidation. However, these data measure broader online aggression rather than cyberbullying alone.
That distinction matters.
Definitions of cyberbullying commonly consider characteristics such as repetition, intention to cause harm and power imbalance. Studies using broader definitions of online aggression may therefore produce different prevalence estimates from studies applying narrower cyberbullying criteria.
For researchers, educators and policymakers, comparing figures without accounting for these differences can create a misleading picture of scale.
The review therefore focuses not only on how common harmful online experiences may be, but on understanding what is being measured and how it relates to the wider social environment of young people.
What do these findings mean for school sport
Taken together, the literature points to a more integrated approach to cyberbullying in education and sport.
The online incident matters, but it may reflect wider peer relationships. For PE teachers and school sport professionals, this means looking beyond the digital space to changes in behaviour, exclusion or tension within a group.
Support also needs to be clear and accessible. Pupils should know who they can approach, what will happen after disclosure, and how confidentiality and referral will be managed.
Klára’s review does not position teachers as investigators. Its practical message is to equip adults working with young people to recognise warning signs, respond appropriately, build trust and refer when specialist support is needed.
The evidence base, however, remains limited. More research is needed on cyberbullying specifically within physical education and school sport, including changing rooms, team activities, competitions, group chats and image sharing, as well as help-seeking, bystander behaviour and the role of teachers and coaches.
Key takeaway / Preliminary findings
Three messages emerge clearly from the reviewed evidence so far:
Cyberbullying is closely connected to offline relationships. Czech studies show that victims frequently know the aggressor and that the person responsible is often part of the same school environment.
Help-seeking remains a major challenge. Recent Czech data found that 58% of young people experiencing online aggression sought no help, while only 7% turned to a teacher.
Prevention cannot rely on technology restrictions alone. Online safety needs to sit alongside trusted relationships, positive school climates, social and emotional skills, and clear pathways to support.
For physical education and school sport, the implication is particularly relevant: the settings that can expose young people to specific online risks may also give teachers valuable opportunities to recognise when something is wrong and help them access support.