Rise in hate crimes on children under 18 and many suffer in silence
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Children as young as 11 are suffering in silence from bullying and racist name calling because of their race or faith, campaigners fear.
And police forces have reported a 14% increase in hate crimes against children under 18 in one year, with 5,349 offences recorded with a racial, religious or faith-based element last year.
Leading children’s charity, the NSPCC has seen a spike in counselling sessions about racial and faith based bullying after recent terror attacks.
The number rose by over a third to 128 in April last year following the Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017, compared to the previous month’s 94.
After the Brussels attack on March 22, 2016, Childline delivered 99 counselling sessions on racial and faith based bullying in the same month, a rise of almost 50% from February 2016, where it held 67 sessions.
Children contacting the charity’s Childline said the abuse and negative stereotyping was so cruel they had self-harmed or the bullying in and out of school made them feel isolated and withdrawn from society.
Other youngsters said they no longer wanted to go to school because they were worried about the abuse they would face.
Childline delivered almost 2,700 counselling sessions about race and faith based bullying in the last three years.
But the charity is urging youngsters to speak out about discrimination and has launched a campaign to tackle the problem and help victims seek help.
The move comes amid fears they are suffering in silence from physical bullying, verbal abuse, cyber-bullying and racist name calling because of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or their accent.
Freedom of Information requests to police forces around the country by the NSPCC found there were 5,349 hate crimes against children in 2016-17, up from 4,695 in 2015-16.
Nearly half (48%) of counselling sessions about racist and faith based bullying were with 12 to 15-year-olds, a quarter were with young people aged 11 and under and 9% were with 16 to 18-year-olds. The age of the children was not recorded in the remaining 18% of sessions.
Dame Esther Rantzen, President of Childline said:“Bullying of any kind is vile, but targeting someone because of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or their accent is simply unacceptable.
“Children are taking on board prejudices around race and religion in society and trading them as playground insults, with extremely harmful results.
“Young people should be encouraged to be proud of who they are. Racial bullying can be hard to cope with but young people need to know they don’t have to carry this burden alone.
“Childline is here for all young people and talking to someone might help them find a way to deal with the situation.”
Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “It’s heartbreaking to think that some children are targeted by bullies because of their race, culture or nationality.
“Racist jokes and negative stereotyping can be hurtful and leave young people feeling isolated and ashamed of who they are or where they are from.
“No child should suffer in silence and anyone being targeted must be supported to tell someone and ask for help.”
Any child worried about bullying can call Childline on 0800 11 11. Any adult who is concerned about a child can call the NSPCC Helpline on 0800 800 5000.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
*An 11-year-old girl said: “Everyone at school hates me, they call me names like ‘paki’ and say that I’m a terrorist. They bully me because of the way that I dress, I don’t want to wear my headscarf to school anymore because it makes me stand out, but I could never tell my parents that. I just want to make friends at school and for people to like me, but it’s really hard when I feel like an outsider.”
*“In the last few weeks, I seem to be getting racist comments wherever I go. People call me a terrorist and keep telling me to go back to where I came from. I dress in traditional Muslim clothes and I think it singles me out. I usually just put my head down and get on with it but it’s getting to the point now where I genuinely feel like I might get attacked.” (Girl, 16-18, Asian/British Asian).
*“I’m being bullied at school because I’m Chinese. The other kids say that my skin is yellow and call me names like ‘chinky’, it gets me really down. I hate the way I look so much, I think if I looked different everyone would stop being mean to me and I’d fit in. I’ve tried to change the way that I look by using eyeliner so that I fit in more. I don’t want to tell my parents because I think it would upset them.” (Girl, 11, Chinese)
*“I’ve been bullied ever since I started school. The bullies call me ‘paki’ and other nasty names; it makes me feel so ashamed. My friends won’t hang out with me anymore because people started asking why they were friends with someone who had dirty skin. I was born in the UK and I’m not a Muslim, but bullies tell me to go back to my own country. I don’t understand because I’m from the UK. I’ve tried to make my face whiter before using make up so that I can fit in. I just want to enjoy going to school.” (Girl, 11, Asian/British Asian).