Constant nit-picking criticism, refusal to value, undermining, distortion, false allegations? Read this

Bullycide
Death at playtime
An exposé of child suicide caused by bullying
by
Neil Marr and Tim Field
Introduction by Jo Brand
Contributions from...
Dr Miriam Stoppard, Prince Naz Hamed,
William Roache, Coronation Street's Ken Barlow
First round-the-world-balloonist Brian Jones
Childrens' charities Kidscape and ChildLine
ISBN 0952912120
Paperback, 18 chapters, 320 pages, 30 b/w photos, resources, index

Cover photo by Ian Torrance, British Press Photographer of 2000.
Reproduced by kind permission, © Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd, Glasgow.

"An excellent book"
(Times Educational Supplement, May 2001)
"Required reading in every LEA in the UK"
(Yorkshire Evening Post, March 2001)

Bullied at school? Still bear the emotional scars? Using a blend of powerful testimony, moving narrative, insightful analysis and practical advice, Bullycide: death at playtime validates the experience of being bullied at school and enables scars to heal, trauma to diminish, self-esteem to return and confidence to grow. The book reveals negative stereotypes ("weak", "sensitive" etc) to be projections of the bully's own weakness and inadequacy and that so-called "victim characteristics" are misperceptions of strengths to be valued and cherished.

Click here for excerpts

Bullycide: death at playtime gives families and children who have been driven to suicide by bullying a voice to enable the truth to be heard, sometimes for the first time. Around 5000 people commit suicide in the UK each year. Bullying causes psychiatric injury, a feature of which is reactive depression. Suicide is now the main cause of death for 18-24-year-old males in the UK.

This pioneering book is the first in-depth study of bullycide - a word the authors have coined to describe when children choose suicide rather than face another day of unrelenting bullying. Contains new interviews with bereaved families, survivors and people who have overcome the trauma of bullying at school to succeed in life - sometimes spectacularly. Includes initiatives to combat bullying, helplines, organisations, suggested reading and web sites.

• at least 16 children commit bullycide in the UK every year
• the scale of misdiagnosed bullycide could be much higher
• 19,000 children attempt suicide annually - one every half hour
• around 2 million children see their GP each year for emotional and psychological problems

Readers say:
"Interesting ... engrossing ... enlightening"
"Should be read by all teachers, trainee teachers, youth club leaders, and anyone involved with children"

With this book you can:

• find out why the parents are often the last to find out their child is being bullied
• recognise the signs of bullying and take action before it's too late
• understand the trauma caused by bullying
• if you were bullied, achieve closure by finally laying this ghost to rest
• learn why bullies bully whilst most people become targets

Bullycide: death at playtime:

• validates the experience of being bullied at school
• helps people realise that it wasn't their fault and there is no truth in all the vile things the bully and others said
• re-empowers people to reclaim their life, to realise their true potential, and to at last start living and achieving

Chapters

1 Strawberry Fields Forever
Steven Shepherd, Britain's first recognised bullycide and stimulus for this book, and Steven's final fatal walk to the strawberry fields of Newburgh, Lancashire, in 1967.

2 Sudden death
The cases of Denise Baillie in Belfast, and Britain's youngest known bullycide, 8-year-old Marie Bentham from Manchester.

3 "We just don't know": the police view
Comments from Lancashire police and their School Community Action Teams.

4 Little flowers
The bullycides of Maria McGovern from Belfast, Salvation Army girl Kelly Yeomans from Derbyshire, and gifted musician David Tuck from Gloucestershire.

5 Racial violence: the embattled identities
Research and positive action to curb racial bullying.

6 Just a Laugh
How a group of A-level students made a video portraying the nastiness of bullying; plus the thoughts of William Roache, Coronation Street's fictional teacher Ken Barlow.

7 Life on the line
Comments from those who deal with the social issues, a case near to home, and how bullying leads to bullycide.

8 The bitches from hell
The case of Katherine Jane Morrison, and bullying in Wales.

9 Is it news?
How the press and media react to child suicides, plus various research.

10 A call away
The work and experience of Kidscape and ChildLine including surveys and research. Describes Kidscape's 1986 survey of adults who were bullied at school and the lifelong effect the bullying has had on self-confidence and self-esteem.

11 What the education authorities say
Or don't say. Pupils' involvement in the bullycide of a teacher, legal action for bullying at school, and the cases of Neil Ross and Daniel Overfield.

12 Close shaves
Attempted suicides and those who survived to tell the tale.

13 From ragging to riches
Famous people who endured bullying at school and then, once free from the tyranny of thuggery, went on to achieve success in life. Includes comments from explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, pop singer Sir Cliff Richard, Olympic javelin champion Tessa Sanderson, sociologist and broadcaster Laurie Taylor, former chairman of ICI and recent TV trouble-shooter Sir John Harvey-Jones, newsreader Martyn Lewis, actor and comedian Craig Charles, dancer Wayne Sleep, Radio 1 star Liz Kershaw, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, actor Peter Cooke, and TV Taggart's James McPherson.

14 Seconds out
Interviews with unbeaten boxer Prince Naz Hamed and his work tackling bullying, and Brian Jones who with Bertrand Piccard in 1997 beat Richard Branson and others to be the first to circumnavigate the world non-stop in a hot-air balloon.

15 Grim start to the millennium
The case of Danielle Goss, bullied via her mobile phone, why Scotland appears to be a bullycide blackspot, plus reports, research and cases from around the UK during the year 2000.

16 Voices heard
Lucy Forrester and her legacy VISYON, set up by her parents to help young people in need. Plus a survivor tells his own story.

17 The happiest days of your life
Psychiatric injury, accountability, how and why bullies target their victims, profiles of bullies and targets (these may surprise you), differences between child and adult bullying, selecting a safe school for your children.

18 End of term report
Ideas, suggestions, guidance and practical advice for tackling bullying from leading experts including Dr Miriam Stoppard, ChildLine, Kidscape, and the authors.

Contains 30 black-and-white photographs
Resources: recommended reading, organisations to contact, helplines, web sites
Index