Survey Warns of 'Faith Bullying'

November 17, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7732305.stm

Almost a quarter of young people have been bullied because of their religion, a charity report says.

Beatbullying said it had encountered a disturbing level of religious segregation and intolerance among the children it had studied.

Chief executive Emma-Jane Cross said that schools were cultivating "at best a lack of understanding and at worst a lack of tolerance of other faiths".

The survey was based on 800 under-18s who visited the charity's website.

It was published to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week.

Some 23% said they been bullied because of their faith, while 9% said they had been singled out for wearing religious symbols.