Girl,12, phoned suicide helpline as bullies banged on toilet door

Children as young as nine have phoned the Papyrus HOPELineUK service, the suicide prevention charity said.

Girl,12, phoned suicide helpline as bullies banged on toilet door

Children as young as nine have phoned the Papyrus HOPELineUK service, the suicide prevention charity said.

Recent callers included a 12-year-old girl who said she was convinced she was going to die after her school's attempts to stop her being bullied only made the situation worse.

Papyrus chief executive Ged Flynn told the Press Association: "A girl of 12 was ringing from the school.

"She said: 'The school has heard from me, and my mum and dad, and my uncles and grandmother that I'm being bullied. The school keeps saying they've fixed it. I can't go on any more. I'm ringing from the girls' toilets and I'm terrified. They're banging on the door now.'

"But the school has fixed it? She's reaching out to a suicide helpline, telling us that she's going to die there and then."

The charity said it could not disclose what happened to the child after she phoned the helpline due to confidentiality.

Mr Flynn said: "Our trained advisers have to meander between the contributory factor (in this case bullying) and also the very high risk that this child might be dead before the phone call ends.

"Without apology, wherever there is a life in danger, while we are compassionate and listening, we will get the blue lights to you."

- PA

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