26 May 2010

A poll by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers and The Children's Society has found that two-thirds of young carers who look after their parents are routinely bullied at school. More than a third say they worry about the person they are caring for during lessons and one in six say they are tired while at school. Others say they are depressed, miss homework deadlines and are late for school or miss it completely because of their responsibilities at home. Helen Leadbitter, of The Children's Society, said most of the bullying took the form of jeerings about the physical or learning disabilities or mental health problems of carers' parents.

The full results of the survey, two downloadable posters and a comprehensive resource pack to help schools draw up an action plan to support young carers, are all available from the Trust for Carers website.