Child advocates are calling for more action to be taken on bullying in schools after a survey found nearly a quarter of New Zealand children don't feel safe at school.
The survey of New Zealand children aged 10 to 12 years old found one in four Kiwi kids said their school was only sometimes safe.
ChildFund NZ CEO Paul Brown says the results are very concerning.
"A lot of the teachers who we interviewed were quite surprised at how high that figure is," he said.
Mr Brown says a lack of security means children struggle to learn, and that it's up to adults to work with them to ensure they feel safer.
"We know all around the world, whether it be in New Zealand or developing countries, if kids don't feel safe, they're not going to learn," he said.
"There's no point asking the child how they feel after something has happened. We've got to do this all the time as parents, as teachers, as adults - really engage with kids, ask them what they're feeling, ask them what they're experiencing."
ChildFund NZ says there is growing evidence linking positive perceptions of the school environment to improved outcomes for students and teachers.
Globally, 34 percent of children say they feel safe only sometimes or never when at school.
ChildFund Global Alliance's annual Small Voices, Big Dreams survey is the world's largest poll of children's opinions. Out of the 6226 children from 41 countries across the world who took part in the 2016 survey, 804 were Kiwis.
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