According to a report by the CLIC Sargent cancer charity, cancer can significantly disrupt a child’s education as well as their ability to make and keep friends.
It found that youngsters with the disease had been bullied by their classmates because they had lost their hair or gained weight because of steroids – with one even being told that he was going to die. The report, based on a survey of children with cancer and their parents, looked at the impact of the disease on children’s primary education.
More than a third (35 per cent) of parents said their child had been bullied or teased when they returned to school.