Research shows racist bullying has become worse during lockdown

New research has found that a quarter of children in the UK believe that bullying around race had become worse during lockdown.

The survey, by anti-bullying charity, The Diana Award, has revealed that more than 30% of young people have heard racist language used by other pupils in recent months.

Despite this, it found that 40% of parents haven't discussed racism at all with their children since lockdown began in March.

Half (50%) of parents said racism is a problem in schools and three-quarters (74%) believe racism is a problem online.

A quarter of young people asked (24%) said they noticed more bullying around race just before and during lockdown.

In order to open up the discussion, the anti-bullying charity has teamed up with some big celebrity names to host a virtual event called The Big Anti-Bullying Assembly 2020.

More than 500,000 students have signed up to watch so far, and it'll include advice from celebs like England manager Gareth Southgate, footballer Tyrone Mings and Hacker the Dog.

The Big Anti-Bullying Assembly, a virtual event which will be held on 28 September, will be hosted by Blue Peter presenter Mwaksy Mudend and Richie Driss, who will be joined by other celebrities including Peter Andre, David and Talia Grant, Katie Leung, Twist & Pulse, Ade Adepitan, James McVey, Cel Spellman and Will Poulter.

The assembly will welcome students back to school and remind everyone of the need for mutual respect and kindness in our schools and communities.

Almost half (46%) of young people have been bullied at school. Of those bullied, 58% say it made them want to skip school, 37% say it made their schoolwork suffer, 44% say it made them avoid social events or stop seeing friends and 18% avoid social media.

The survey questioned 1,000 parents of 6-15-year-olds and 1,000 children aged between 6 and 15.

England football player Tyrone Mings, who is part of The Big Anti-Bullying Assembly, said:

"I feel like everybody's differences should be celebrated, there's no shame or harm in being different so that's why I'm putting my hand up to commit to putting an end to bullying."

To date, more than 35,000 young people have been trained as Anti-Bullying Ambassadors in 4,000 schools throughout the UK and Ireland by The Diana Award.