Child bullied for his sexuality, has his phone number shared

Bullying incidents are on the rise in Cyprus, children’s rights commissioner Despo Mihcaelides said on Saturday, following reports that children wrote offensive comments about a peer’s sexual identity at a park in Nicosia.

There is a general problem with empathy and respecting others with different beliefs, religion, opinions or sexuality, the commissioner told radio Trito.

She was speaking on the occasion of a recent bullying case in Nicosia, where children visited a specific park and wrote multiple offensive comments about a specific child and his sexual identity.

They also shared his phone number by writing it down at the park near the insults. The commissioner did not specify whether the minor received any unwanted text messages or phone calls.

Michaelides linked the incident to the debate on mandatory sex education from pre-school age. She stressed that knowledge never hurt anyone, instead it is a shield for children to protect them from sexual abuse.

Comprehensive sex education will take place for all school years between reception and third year of secondary school as of September, after cabinet approved the relevant former education minister’s proposal.

The updated legislation means that each school year will have allocated time for sex education, with pre-primary students receiving 8-12 periods from a total of 24 workshops while primary school students will have 6-10 teaching periods from 24 workshops.