Bullying
Key child protection statistics (December 2007)
- 31% of children experienced bullying by their peers during childhood, a further 7% were discriminated against and 14% were made to feel different or 'like an outsider'. 43% experienced at least one of these things during childhood.
Cawson, P. et al. (2000) Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect. London: NSPCC. p.26.
- Children who were abused or neglected by their parents were consistently more likely than others to experience bullying, discrimination, or being made to feel different by their peers. For example, 70% of those who were sexually abused by parents were also bullied by other children. 60% of those who were physically abused by parents, and 58% of those who experienced absence of physical care, also reported being bullied.
Cawson, P. (2002) Child maltreatment in the family: the experience of a national sample of young people. London: NSPCC. p.61-62.
- A quarter of children bullied by their peers reported that they suffered long term harmful effects lasting into adulthood.
Cawson, P. et al. (2000) Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect. London: NSPCC. p.30.
- Research for ChildLine and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) found that just over half (54%) of both primary and secondary school children thought that bullying was 'a big problem' or 'quite a big problem' in their school. Just over half (51%) of Year 5 students (aged 9-10) reported that they had been bullied during the preceding term compared with just over a quarter (28%) of Year 8 students (aged 12-13). 15% of primary school students, and 12% of secondary school students said that they had both bullied other children and been bullied themselves in the last year.
Oliver, C. and Kandappa, M. (2003) Tackling bullying: listening to the views of children and young people. Summary report (PDF). London: DfES and ChildLine.
- Around a third of boys (35%) and a quarter of girls (26%) admit they have bullied other children 'a little' and/or 'a lot'.
Katz, A. et al. (2001) Bullying in Britain: testimonies from teenagers. East Molesey, Surrey: Young Voice. p.9.
- Research involving 2,300 pupils aged 10-14 from schools across England found that 30% of children did not tell anyone that they had been bullied. This percentage was higher for boys and older children.
Smith, P. and Shu, S. (2000) What good schools can do about bullying: findings from a survey in English schools after a decade of research and action. Childhood 7(2): 193-212. p.204.
- Research with 11 to 19 year olds found that 1 in 5 young people (20%) had experienced bullying or threats via e-mail, internet chatroom or text message. Bullying using text messaging was the most common of these three forms of bullying, experienced by 14% of young people. Almost three quarters (73%) of young people who had been bullied by email, internet chatroom or text message said they knew the person who bullied or threatened them, while a quarter (26%) said it was done by a stranger.
NCH and Tesco Mobile (2005) Putting U in the picture: mobile bullying survey 2005 (PDF)
Bullying - calls to ChildLine 2005/2006
- 37,074 children calling ChildLine in 2005/2006 gave bullying as their main problem (of which 25,406 were girls and 11,668 were boys - i.e. 2 girls to every 1 boy). 4,038 children gave bullying as an additional problem (of which 2,880 were girls and 1,158 were boys). Therefore in 2005/2006, a total of 41,112 children calling ChildLine spoke about bullying in their call. This was 26% of all callers.
- Of those children who called ChildLine in 2005/2006 and gave bullying as their main problem 1 :
- for 5,806 (60%) the bullying was categorised as name calling/teasing
- for 5,157 (55%) the bullying was categorised as physical bullying
- for 1,049 (11%) the bullying was categorised as verbal or written threats
- for 558 (6%) the bullying was categorised as extortion
- for 387 (4%) the bullying was categorised as racist bullying
- for 171 (2%) it was the caller who was bullying someone else
- for 163 (2%) the bullying was categorised as ‘isolation bullying’
- for 123 (1%) the bullying was categorised as sexual bullying
- for 99 (1%) the bullying was categorised as homophobic bullying
- for 27,735 (75%) calls no data is available.
- 80% of children counselled about bullying did not go on to talk about any other problem.
- 15% of children counselled by ChildLine about being bullied in 2005/2006 had told no-one before ChildLine. 43% had told a teacher. 29% had told their mothers.
The ages of children calling ChildLine where bullying was given as a main problem during 2005/2006 were as follows
1 :
age unknown: 29% (10,918)
5-11 years: 41% (10,727)
12-15 years: 54% (14,191)
16-18 years: 7% (1,238)
- In total, 28 referrals were made about children who had called ChildLine about bullying during 2005/2006. This was 2% of all referrals.
ChildLine data (2005/2006) - unpublished.
Footnote
1. Percentages apply to those records where this information was given.
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