One in three children in Bulgaria says they have suffered violence or abuse, according to a report by the National Network for Children.

Last year, 1,729 reports of violence against children were filed, and there were 3,171 cases of bullying at school. Reports of illegal content involving children on the internet topped 3.5 million. One in seven children has been a victim of online bullying.

Child psychologist Elena Terziyska has two daughters, aged 12 and 17. She often talks to them about online risks, and they tell her what happens to them. She says children's world today fits inside a phone, and parents often cannot see what is in it.

Terziyska described a 15-year-old girl who chatted with a "boy" who said he was 17 and went to meet him. A 27-year-old man was waiting for her. The girl had gone with her friend.

In another case, a fourth-grade girl was photographed from behind in class, with her face twisted as she spoke. The photo was posted on a social network with an insulting label. She did not know about it, and other children laughed at her for days.

An adult, a first-grader and a ninth-grader each go through cyberbullying differently, the psychologist said. She advises children to go straight to someone they trust when it happens.

School heads say one lesson on internet dangers in the early grades and two lessons for pupils in grades 5 to 7 are far too few. They arrange extra training themselves.

In social media groups, pupils insult each other and post quite inappropriate photos, said Milena Kovacheva, head of the Second Primary School "Dimitar Blagoev" in Blagoevgrad. When a class has a problem, the school always holds a separate lesson there with the school psychologist and teaching staff.

Bulgaria has no institution responsible for children's online safety, so everything is done piecemeal, by trial and error, says expert Maria Brestnichka. She says the National Centre for Safer Internet is not a state body but a channel kept going by the efforts of civil society groups. Experts say the state must fix the lack of coordination between institutions.

Brestnichka estimates that 10% of cases are reported. Even when there is a report, the system does not react early or fast enough, she said.