Record numbers of children are turning to the charity Childline for help over bullying. It says there has been a 12% increase over the last year - with more than 3,000 calls every month.
Worryingly, more and more young people are being targeted over the internet - and suffering homophobic bullying.
Just over 37,000 young people rang for counselling between April 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006, compared to 32,500 the previous year.
With the school year about to start, the organisation has released anti-bullying tips for parents.
These include how to react if a child is being bullied, how to deal with the school, and detecting the early warning signs.
ChildLine has expressed "growing" concern at homophobic bullying.
It says an estimated 2,725 young people call them each year to talk about sexual orientation, homophobia or homophobic bullying.
A study found "too many teachers do nothing about homophobic bullying", and many young people fear telling their parents about it.
A ChildLine spokesman said: "Right now, thousands of children are dreading going back to school because of the bullying they will face.
"Every school should have an anti-bullying charter, but parents and carers can also play a role."
Anti-bullying advice for parents can be found at
www.nspcc.org.uk
Source
sky.com/news
Record Numbers Of Children Bullied
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