Bullying amongst young people is a widespread social problem. According to a 2025 study by ‘Aktion Mensch’, 71 per cent of the young people surveyed reported having experienced bullying, whilst 47 per cent had been victims of bullying themselves. 75 per cent of the victims had been bullied over a prolonged period. School is the most common setting for bullying, followed by cyberbullying.
The Federal Agency for Civic Education defines bullying as follows: “Bullying occurs when someone is harassed by one or more others, when several people gang up against one person, when the harassment occurs frequently, when it takes place over an extended period of time, and when the victim is unable to stand up to the bullies on their own.” Typical forms of bullying include verbal abuse in the form of insults, belittling remarks and false rumours, social exclusion and, ultimately, physical attacks. As the study also revealed, most victims do not talk to anyone about the extent to which they suffer psychologically as a result of bullying.
Help via counselling services
Aktion Mensch runs a website where young people affected by bullying can find help:
Help with Bullying | Aktion Mensch
There, young people affected by bullying – or their parents and carers – can find personalised and confidential counselling services via telephone, email or live chat. The counselling is usually provided by volunteer specialists from the fields of psychology, social work and law. In some cases, specially trained teenagers and young adults also provide the counselling.
The websites and contact details for the following organisations are listed: Nummer gegen Kummer, Juuuport e.V., Telefon-Seelsorge, JugendNotmail, Krisenchat, bke-Onlineberatung, Zeichen gegen Mobbing e.V., Safe im Recht, Between the Lines.
About the “Aktion Mensch” study:
Bullying of young people
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