One in 10 British children say they have been threatened or made uncomfortable by people taking a photograph of them with a mobile phone, according to a new survey.
Children's charity NCH said nearly a sixth of this total believed their image had then been sent to someone else.
A recent craze of "happy slapping", where random attacks on strangers are filmed by camera phone, has fuelled concerns about youth crime in Britain where tackling anti-social behaviour is a top political issue.
The NCH said in a survey that around one in seven children also reported having received a bullying or threatening text message, roughly the same level discovered in a similar survey conducted by the charity in 2002.
"A mobile phone is one of a child's most treasured personal possessions," NCH said.
"So if the mobile starts being used to harass a child, be it through text or camera phone bullying, it can seem like there is no escape," it added.
NCH said it was worrying that more than a quarter (28%) of those experiencing some kind of digital bullying by text, e-mail or in an Internet chatroom failed to tell anyone about it.
In response, the charity has set up a web site with Tesco Mobile to encourage children to talk to an adult or friend about mobile phone bullying.
Virtually every 12-16 year old owns a mobile phone, while around four million young people own a camera-enabled handset, according to data from market researcher Mobile Youth.
NCH
interviewed 770 youngsters aged 11 to 19 for the survey.
