CHILDREN BULLIED BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH

A quarter of children with a religious belief are bullied at school because of their faith, a new survey reveals. The findings prompted BeatBullying, the charity who funded the research, to call on the government to compel schools to record all incidents of faith-based bullying and to fund more extensive research and preventative measures. The study of 1,000 11- to 16-year-olds found that half of them practised their religion, twice the proportion of adults who do. But 20 per cent said their friendships were largely with others who shared the same religious background. Behind incidents of verbal and physical violence, there is a lack of cohesion between different religious communities and not enough support for discussing faith issues with their peers, a Beatbullying spokesperson said.

Sources: The Independent (17/11); Church of England Newspaper (21/11); Baptist Times (20/11)