Young people can suffer lifelong affects from bullying.
Almost one in three school students have suffered some form of bullying over the last month.
That's according to the United Nations, which is launching International Day Against Violence and Bullying in Schools today.
It says a person's physical appearance is the main reason for bullying, with people seen as different most often chosen to be a victim.
Director of the National Anti-Bullying Research Centre at DCU, James O'Higgins-Norman says young people suffer lifelong effects from bullying:
"Kids who are bullied are more likely to stay out of school, leave early or not perform well in exams or assessments."
"They are also likely to have a low self-esteem and it can have a long-term affect on their lives, which is quite serious.
"We learned during first lockdown that the more time children spent online, the more resilient some of them became to cope with negative aspects of spending more time online.
"Cyber bullying did increase, but not as much as we thought during the first lockdown."
