The Bullying Prevention Project (Young Carers)
The Bullying Prevention Project (Young Carers), one of Carers Trust’s Innovation Generation projects set out to raise awareness of and improve the understanding of the relationship between bullying and being a young carer, in order to remove barriers and improve environments that reduce the likelihood of young carers being bullied. A guide, a film and a training PowerPoint have been developed and are available from the project page as well as a short project evaluation.
Research
It has been well evidenced in research that young carers experience heightened levels of bullying. Recent research by the University of Nottingham and Carers Trust found that a quarter (26%) of young carers surveyed were bullied at school specifically because of their caring role.
This echoed previous research by Carers Trust which found 68% of young carers in an online survey had experienced bullying. This inflated level of bullying of young people with caring responsibilities was also highlighted in research by the National Centre for Social Research (2010)
Potential reasons for bullying
Young carers may experience bullying for a variety of reasons including:
- They may find it harder to make and sustain friendships and a social life which means they appear unsociable.
- They may have greater maturity than their peers (and might therefore be seen as different).
- People may not understand the illness or disability experienced in the family.
- They may be withdrawn or particularly sensitive at times.
- They may have untidy or unclean clothing or general appearance.
- Peers may make fun of them or of their family members who they care for.
Young carers need to be supported within their communities so that they are protected from bullying which can significantly impact on a young person’s health and wellbeing.
Further information
Read information about bullying and support on Carers Trust’s Young Carers website.
Other useful websites with information about bullying include Kidscape, Beat Bullying and Young Minds.