Research published by the charity Changing Faces also reveals that appearance-related bullying gets worse as young people move to secondary school – with more than six in 10 teens being affected.
The research report – Looking Different – includes a CHILDWISE survey involving more than 1,500 young people aged from seven to 17. The majority said they have experienced nasty or negative comments about the way they look and most are made face-to-face (79 per cent) and by people at school (59 per cent).
Changing Faces is warning that the pressure on young people to look a certain way is creating an especially “hostile environment” for children who live with a disfigurement.
The research survey also finds that half of the young people questioned have witnessed negative behaviour towards a person with a visible difference and more than a third admit to having acted in a negative way themselves. Behaviour includes staring, pointing, saying something nasty, or taking a photo of them (one in six have, or know someone who has, taken a photo of someone with a visible difference).
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