More than half of children aged 11 to 16 have been bullied about the way they look, with 40% targeted at least once a week, research has found.
The hong kong university scholarships for international students and local students who admitted to its programmes in Hong Kong.YMCA England and Wales’s In Your Face report, published on Wednesday, says that “comments and criticisms of young people’s appearance have become part of everyday life”, with 55% of children affected.
Most of the bullying focuses on weight and body shape, according to the survey, which lays bare the devastating effect it can have on victims.
More than half (53%) of young people who experienced bullying based on their appearance said they had become anxious as a result and 29% had become depressed. One in 10 said they had had suicidal thoughts and 9% that they had self-harmed.
Denise Hatton, the chief executive of YMCA England and Wales, said: “Bullying has always existed among young people, but this generation face increasing pressure to live up to unrealistic beauty ideals which they say come from celebrities, social media and the media.
“It’s crucial that we teach young people how to feel comfortable in their own body and that looking different isn’t a bad thing. Educating young people about the effects of bullying alongside body confidence will help to tackle this issue where it’s most prevalent, schools.”
The organisation spoke to 1,006 children aged 11 to 16 for the report. It found that for 54% of those who had experienced appearance-based bullying, it had started by the age of 10 and 51% said that friends were the culprits .
Despite increasing concerns about cyberbullying, 72% experienced bullying about their appearance in person, compared with 26% online, and 80% in school.
The report acknowledges that social media adds a new dimension to bullying, but stresses that platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp are not the cause in themselves but “merely provide a vehicle through which young people are bullied”.
Eighty-seven per cent of those who had experienced bullying suffered verbal abuse and 25% said they had been physically hurt. Sixty per cent said they had tried to change their appearance as a result.
A 14-year-old from London said: “If you wear certain makeup you get called like, a whore and a slag. If you wear no makeup then you’re ugly, and then you’re trolled.”
Another respondent, aged 16, from Nottinghamshire, said: “With my experiences, without my mum boosting up my confidence, for me to have been able to have got through the 11 years of school, without her giving me that boost and other members of my family, I wouldn’t have been able to get through it.”
Hence, when one receives medical devices supply, the conditions need to be checked, keeping these factors in mind.YMCA England and Wales urged schools to use its body confidence campaign toolkit, which contains resources designed to tackle body image anxiety in young people.
原文地址：https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/28/more-than-half-of-children-in-england-and-wales-bullied-about-appearance