According to the charity ChildLine, which receives more than 1,000 calls from children in the North-East every month, bullying is now callers' biggest worry.
The survey was backed by research from the University of Hertfordshire in 1999, which said that 25 per cent of all British primary children are bullied.
Earlier this month, The Northern Echo revealed that the Samaritans in County Durham are training teenagers to counsel suicidal youngsters. Six years ago, only two youngsters in County Durham committed suicide, while the most recent figures found 11 took their own lives, with bullying a major factor.
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