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More children being driven to thoughts of suicide by bullying
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August 29th, 2014
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This article is more than 10 years old.
In some cases, kids as young as ten years old have contemplated taking their own lives
Bullying is driving more and more young children to the brink of despair.
According to Morten Thomsen from Livslinien, a telephone helpline, kids as young as ten years old often see no way out.
“Kids often feel trapped in a situation they cannot handle,” Thomsen told Metroxpress.
“They feel alone, and often those closest to them fail to see the problem. Parents are often shocked about how bad things were after a suicide attempt.”
Facebook hell
Social mediums like Facebook and Instagram have made bullying even worse. While the sites require their users to be 13, millions worldwide ignore the age limit – particularly on Instagram.
Now instead of being confined to school, bullying can continue 24/7 and it is pushing children over the edge.
READ MORE: Teens given hefty fines for cyberbullying
“Before kids could keep a low profile in class and have friends outside of school,” Jens Christian Nielsen, an associate professor at the department of education at Aarhus University, told Metroxpress.
“Now, the abuse can be constant over social media, and adults often have very little insight into that arena.”
Frightening numbers
The number of children calling Livslinien for help has leapt from just under 8,000 in 2001 to nearly 25,000 last year.
Nearly 1,700 of those calls concerned bullying; 722 callers said they were either going to commit suicide or thinking about it.
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