UK Youth: Cyberstalking's Dark Digital Side

A troubling rise in cyberstalking involving children is emerging across the UK, with young people increasingly both victims and perpetrators.
  
As digital tools become integral to daily life, experts warn that constant online monitoring—once seen as protective—is now normalizing obsessive, controlling behaviour in youth relationships. 
 
Jess Phillips a British politician who has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Safeguarding Minister, has called for urgent education on "healthy digital love."
 
Children are growing up surrounded by surveillance tools like Snap Map and Life360, which blur the line between safety and control. In 2024, 27 UK police forces reported 8,365 cyberstalking offenses, with perpetrators as young as 10.

 
Campaigners say many children mistake obsessive behaviour for affection, unaware of the harm it can cause. 
 
“It’s not love, it’s control,” warns Jess Phillips, herself a stalking survivor.
 
Charities like Protection Against Stalking and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust are seeing more referrals for victims under 14, yet resources remain scarce. 
 
Preventive systems, including Stalking Protection Orders, are often delayed or poorly understood. 
 
Schools such as Mascalls Academy report rising demand for cyberstalking education, highlighting how urgently intervention is needed.
 
Experts stress that the UK must act now to address this digital-age threat before it becomes further entrenched in youth culture.