The Children's Ombudsman conducted research into children who are bullied: children who are excluded, insulted and sometimes also kicked and hit by other children. Most children are bullied because of their appearance or clothing. One third of children are bullied because they have a different skin colour, a disability, or because they do not yet know whether they are a boy or a girl. When children are bullied for these reasons, it is discrimination.

Being bullied has major consequences for children's lives. Almost 15% of children are bullied so severely that they rate their lives as unsatisfactory. These are mainly children who are bullied in multiple places (at school, in the neighbourhood, online, etc.).

Children's Ombudswoman Margrite Kalverboer: “I am concerned about these children because they feel so lonely as a result of being bullied. There is definitely something we can do about that. We need to talk more about bullying, take bullying seriously and give children more space and support to let them be who they are.”

What needs to change and who should do it?

The Children's Ombudswoman believes that a number of things need to happen:

  • The Children's Ombudswoman wants a broad approach to combating bullying, which also addresses discrimination and bullying in the neighbourhood, online and on the sports field. Someone within the Cabinet must be made responsible for this.
  • It is important for all children to receive help with bullying. Even when the bullying is not resolved, it is important for children to know that they will receive support. This requires everyone in society, adults and children alike, to be alert to bullying and offer help when they see bullying behaviour.
  • Many children find it difficult to talk about bullying, for example because they are ashamed. But talking about bullying is important. We see that children who do not talk about bullying suffer the most from it. Moreover, they do not receive help to stop the bullying. It is therefore important that adults such as teachers, trainers, community police officers and youth workers create a safe environment for children to talk about bullying. And that they work together with children to determine how this can be done.
  • Adults also sometimes find it difficult to talk about bullying or discrimination. That is why all adults who work with children, such as teachers, community police officers and sports instructors, must learn how best to do this, both when they are working and while they are still in training.

About the study

For the study, the Children's Ombudsman asked bullied children about their experiences through an online questionnaire. In addition to the questionnaire, we spoke with children about their experiences of bullying and how this affects their lives. We recorded these stories in our research report so that everyone can see what bullying and discrimination do to children.

Read the report ‘Bullied in Loneliness’ here.