The number of children being sent home from school in shame after being caught bullying their fellow pupils has almost doubled in two years.
Last year saw almost 9,000 occasions where a child was suspended because they were caught intimidating or abusing other children.
The figures have prompted fresh calls for action on smartphones, with digital bullying now linked to severe mental health problems for children.
All schools now have strict anti-bullying guidelines to crack down on the offensive behaviour which can make the victims’ lives miserable.
Bullying used to be limited to hurtful and threatening comments face-to-face, as well as physical attacks, but the use of smartphones and social media has allowed bullies to target their victims online within the supposed safety of their bedrooms.
Severe bullying online has been linked to children suffering mental health problems and to some committing suicide.
The latest figures from the Department of Education revealed there were 8,822 occasions in the school year which ended in July 2023, which is the most recently released data, where children were suspended for bullying.
That figure is a rise of 23 per cent on the 7,194 occasions children were suspended for the offence in the previous year and almost double the 4,663 similar suspensions in the school year before that.
Last year saw 766 of the incidents logged against primary school children and included in the total were five incidents where the children sent home were still in the youngest reception class.
There were also 95 incidents where headteachers considered a pupil’s behaviour so bad they were expelled for good and had to find a new school to take them.
Christopher McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Bullying wrecks the lives of too many children and its
impact can be long lasting. We can see from the latest increase in school suspensions that firmer anti-bullying measures are desperately needed – outside the classroom as well as inside.”
