Stranmillis to lead research into school cyberbullying

The 'Blurred Lives' project will look at cyberbullying among young people in five different places in the EU

Stranmillis University College in Belfast has been awarded almost 300,000 euros (£266,000) for a study of cyberbullying in schools.

The money comes from the EU scheme Erasmus+.

It funds education, youth and sport projects.

The Blurred Lives project will look at cyberbullying among young people in five different places in the EU, including Northern Ireland.

Stranmillis, the lead research partner, will collaborate with universities in England, Italy, Holland and Germany.

The two-year study, costing 291,359 euros (£258,490), will seek to explore how young people in those countries understand, experience and respond to cyberbullying.

It aims to make recommendations to social media providers about how best they can prevent and tackle cyberbullying.

Stranmillis is the lead partner in the research and will collaborate with other EU universities

It will also result in updated learning resources to be used by teachers, pupils and parents.

The director of research at Stranmillis Dr Noel Purdy said the research into cyberbullying was important and timely.

"I am confident that the outcomes of the Blurred Lives project will improve the lives of many young people in schools right across Europe," he said.

The Erasmus+ scheme is the EU's programme for education and youth work and is worth 14.7bn euros (£12 bn) from 2014-2020.