The COVID‐19 pandemic has had an enormous impact across the world. In this discussion paper, we examine the effect that lockdown has had on the mental health and well‐being of children and young people. We write from a UK perspective in the light of the international evidence. Many of the discussion points raised resonate globally. We discuss how these issues can be dealt with and set out potential solutions as we emerge from this global crisis.

Keywords: cyberbullying; peer support; bystanders; moral disengagement; cyberbullying and the law; mental health; social environment; cyberbullying interventions; educational lifespan.

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractStudents within the university sector are 'digital natives'. Technology is not 'new' or 'alien' to them, but rather it is an accepted and normalised part of everyday life (Simmons et al., 2016).With this level of expertise and competence, we could assume that university students are relatively happy with their online relationships. However, in recent years there has been a growing realisation that, for some students at least, the online world is a very dangerous place.The age of the students is of key importance here too, as those in higher and further education are young adults, rather than children in need of parental support. From this perspective, the university as an institution has a duty of care to its students in their learning environment regardless of their age. In this article, we consider the social and cultural contexts which either promote or discourage cyberbullying among university students.Finally, the implications for policies, training and awareness-raising are discussed along with ideas for possible future research in this under researched area.

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The research was carried out in four secondary schools, two with a peer support system and two without, and involved a total of 931 pupils (49.5% males and 50.5% females). Participants were aged between 11 and 15 years of age, mean age 12.8 years. The aims were: to compare the perceptions of safety on the part of older and younger pupils in secondary schools with and without a system of peer support in place; to find out if there are differences in perceptions of safety within peer support schools on the part of those who are aware of the existence of a peer support service in their school and those who are not aware; and to find out if pupils in peer support schools are more likely to tell someone about school violence and bullying than those in schools without peer support. The results indicate very little difference between pupil perceptions of safety in schools with and schools without a peer support system in place. In fact, older pupils in the schools without peer support responded that they felt safer than pupils in schools with a peer support system in toilets and lessons. However, within the peer support schools there were significant differences in perceptions of safety between the substantial minority of pupils who were unaware that their school had a peer support system and those who were aware of it. The pupils who were aware felt safer in lessons, perceived school as a friendlier place to be, and worried significantly less about being bullied in comparison with those who were unaware. They were also much more likely to tell someone when bad things happened at school. The results are discussed in the light of previous research in the field and some recommendations are made for the practice of peer support