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One in six victims of school bullying have felt suicidal, a survey has revealed.

It showed 40% of kids will be worried about bullies as they head back to school this week.

The poll of 1,003 pupils, aged 11 to 16, by youth charity The Diana Award found 57% had been bullied at school, 74% had witnessed bullying and 23% thought their school was failing to tackle the problem.

Of the victims, 78% had been made to feel anxious, 56% had been unable to sleep and 17% had been made to feel suicidal.

One victim, Louisa Antoine, 16, from Essex, said: “Having been bullied most of my life, I developed anxiety and most days I wouldn’t want to go to school.”

The Diana Award, in memory of Princess Diana, trains children as Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. Alex Holmes, deputy chief executive, said: “School should be safe and free from harmful bullying.”

(Image: Getty Images/Image Source)

Celebrities, such as pop singer Peter Andre, are reliving their experiences of being bullied at #Back2School.

Peter Andre revealed that he contemplated suicide after suffering years of horrific abuse at the hands of racist bullies.

The Mysterious Girl singer was born in London to Greek-Cypriot parents, but moved to Australia at a young age.

But when Peter, now 46, started school Down Under, he was met with a barrage of vile racist abuse, not only from his fellow pupils, but also from his teachers.

Peter opened up about his experiences in a video for youth charity The Diana Award's #Back2School campaign, which has trained over 33,000 Anti-Bullying Ambassadors in 3,800 schools throughout the UK.

Peter said: "Did I ever contemplate ending it? Yeah.

"In that period of time, yeah. Bullying is a horrible thing. It really is horrible. On every level. Unfortunately it happens. It's been going on for generations."