Words can hurt say campaigners in verbal abuse battle

Many more young people have seen or heard others subjected to verbal bullying, it says.

Campaigners raised concerns that verbal insults – such as name calling and the use of derogatory language – is seen as less serious than other types of bullying, warning that the emotional impact on victims can be just as damaging.

A poll of almost 1,000 11- to 16-year-olds, commissioned by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, reveals that 26 per cent of youngsters say they have been verbally bullied in the last year. Of these, 79 per cent said it had happened at school.

Two thirds (66 per cent) of those questioned said they had seen or heard this type of abuse in the last year.

The survey, published to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, reveals that many youngsters are concerned about verbal bullying.

Four fifths (81 per cent) said it was a problem in their school or local area, and of these 12 per cent said it was a “very big” problem.

The findings also show that around one in seven (14 per cent) of all the youngsters surveyed said that they had considered missing school because they were worried about being bullied.

Parents and teachers were the people a child was most likely to go to for help about bullying, the survey found.

Ross Hendry, chair of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said the results highlighted how much of a problem verbal bullying is.

“Sometimes there is a tendency to see verbal bullying as being less serious than physical bullying,” he said. But the emotional and psychological impact can be just as damaging and may affect young people’s self-esteem and confidence to the point where they don’t want to go to school.”

He said that as the figures showed that most verbal bullying occurred in schools, it was vital that teachers, parents and pupils worked together to prevent youngsters from being bullied.

“Casual name calling and the use derogatory language – so common in our schools and in society more generally – can lead to verbal bullying being seen as acceptable,” Mr Hendry said.

The theme of this year’s Anti-Bullying Week is “stop and think: words can hurt”.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: “Tackling poor behaviour and bullying are top priorities for the coalition Government.”