One in five bullied pupils say they have felt suicidal

AT LEAST two children in every class have contemplated suicide because of bullying, a study for the Diana Award has shown.

More than half (57 per cent) of children say they have been bullied at some point at school, of whom almost one in five (17 per cent) say it made them feel suicidal.

More than three quarters (78 per cent) of those bullied said it made them anxious and more than half (56 per cent) struggled to sleep at night.

The Diana Award, a charity set up in honour of the late Princess of Wales and backed by her son the Duke of Cambridge campaigns for anti-bullying pupil ambassadors in schools.

In support of the campaign, Chris Elmore, a Labour MP, reveals for the first time on a video that he thought of taking his own life after bullies kicked him until he bled, urinated on his PE clothes and spat at his face.

“There were points when I was 13 to 14 years old when I would have happily not have been here any more. I googled taking my own life. I thought it would have been easier than dealing with the bullies,” he said.

Others who have made videos in support of the campaign are TV presenter Peter Andre, boxer Lawrence Okolie and model and TV personality Penny Lancaster.

The research, by Survation, also shows that 54 per cent of children aged 11 to 16 who were bullied avoided social events, 35 per cent missed school and 20 per cent changed schools or were home-schooled because of it

As 10 million children return to school this week, 40 per cent say they are worried about going back because of bullying and 23 per cent think their school does not tackle bullying effectively. More than a third (36 per cent) of parents are worried that their child has behaved in a bullying manner, according to the survey of 1,003 parents and children.

Mr Elmore described how bullying “made my life a misery”. After being punched in the face twice, his headteacher told him “not to worry about it”. The Diana Award has trained more than 33,000 anti-bullying ambassadors in 3,800 schools.