Half of children have been bullied… and weight and body shape are the main focus

In a typical classroom of 30 children, 15 will have been bullied at some point in their time at school according to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.  Most bullying focuses on weight and body shape – and it has major impact on victims according to a 2015 survey for Good Morning Britain’s Action! Against Bullying campaign.  That survey found:

  • most abuse takes place at school, in the playground and in the classroom
  • a quarter of young people said they had been picked on because of the way they look
  • 13% thought they had been targeted because of their weight
  • six out of 10 children said they had seen other people being bullied at their school and 80% of victims said it happened in front of other people
  • more than 70% of the 1,500 children surveyed knew their schools had an anti-bullying policy, but only a quarter thought it worked.

For more information see the Children’s Commissioner’s Vulnerability Report for 2018 (pdf download) and the Good Morning Britain Action! campaign survey.

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