Bullying continues to be a major problem across the UK and its everyone's job to tackle it says charity
Half of all young people in the UK have been bullied with one in four being tormented in the past year, a major new survey has found.
A quarter of those bullied also go on to bully someone else, charity Ditch the Label discovered.
It surveyed 8,850 people aged between 12 and 20 from across the UK, including over 1,800 people in Scotland.
It found exactly 50% of youngsters across the UK, equivalent to three million young people, had been bullied, with 51% of Scots saying they had suffered.
A higher percentage of girls (57%) said they had been bullied compared to boys (44%).
Let me tell you: suicide, depression and eating disorders should never be part of ‘growing up’
Only 60% reported it, with the majority of those that did choosing to tell a teacher. However only 57% of respondents who sought help from school said they were happy with the outcome, with those choosing to tell a family member far more satisfied.
Just under half (44%) of those who had been bullied in the past year said they went on to develop depression, one in three self-harmed and one in 10 abused drugs and/or alcohol.
Liam Hackett, founder and chief executive of Ditch the Label, which offered online support to 180,000 young people in the last year, called on more to be done to help young people on both sides.
He wants schools and colleges to utilise mediation and restorative justice techniques to rebuild relationships and demanded teachers are given more regular training on how to deal with bullying situations.
“Bullying continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing young people, as we continue to show the huge impacts it has upon mental health, self-esteem, and future prospects,” he said.
“Some people believe that bullying is just part of growing up. Well, let me tell you: suicide, depression and eating disorders should never be part of growing up.
“It is the mission of Ditch the Label not only to support the millions of young people who experience bullying, but also to better understand the behaviour so that we can work to proactively combat bullying with prevention.
“It is my firm belief that this research will empower us as an organisation, the sector and will help the wider community of practitioners to better understand the dynamics of bullying.”
Over half of those bullied said they were tormented because of their appearance, making it the most common reason. Around one in five said they had been targeted for their grades at school, because of the perceived income of their parents or because a family member or friend was also being bullied.
Around one in 10 of those bullied last year, around 150,000, were targeted on a daily basis, with one in five saying they had been bullied several times per week.
However, over half (58%) of respondents, admitted carrying out an act of bullying, which ranged from physically attacking someone to starting a rumour about them, with boys (64%) more likely to have done so than girls (51%).
A quarter of those who said they had been bullied admitted bullying someone else.
Dr Rick Fraser, clinical director children and young people’s services at the NHS, called for a unified approach to tackling the problem.
He said: “Bullying in children and young people is associated with mental health problems including depression, anxiety and self-harming.
“Young people who bully others are more likely to have suffered upset and distress in their lives and to have their own mental health difficulties.
“An integrated response involving working with children/young people, families, schools/colleges and employers is required not only to address the negative outcomes of bullying but also to work towards prevention.”
