We asked 100 First News readers to grill the three men who want to be in charge of children’s issues in the next government – Ed Balls, Labour’s Children’s Secretary, David Laws from the Liberal Democrats party and the Conservative man, Michael Gove.

Watch the debate at www.firstnews.co.uk/decision-time and listen to what the three men say about the issues that affect young people and then vote for the party you think would do the best job for you in Britain.

This week the Radcliffe School anti-bullying team from Milton Keynes told us about the work they are doing to tackle bullying at school and in their community. They asked us to ask the three MPs what they would do about bullying if they were to form the next government. In a First News poll eight out of ten children wanted bullying to be made a crime.

We asked the three men to tell us what they would do about bullies

Labour Children’s Secretary Ed Balls MP said: “I’m delighted that more than 1,000 First News readers have added their voice to the campaign against bullying. The more you speak up, the louder the message we can send that bullying is totally unacceptable inside or outside our schools.

“Whether it’s in the playground or the classroom, at the bus stop or the train station, face-to-face or in online chatrooms, we want to eliminate not just bullying but the fear of being bullied.

“Whatever happens in the current election, I am proud of the money I’ve invested to support the helplines and mentoring programmes run by ChildLine, the NSPCC and Beatbullying for young people who’ve suffered from bullying or seen it taking place.

“We all know that bullying ruins many young lives, and the mental scars it leaves can last a lifetime. That is why – while politicians come and go – I’m glad that so many young people, and so many dedicated teachers, schools and charities, are now working together to stamp out bullying for good.”

Conservative Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove said: “When 450,000 children are being bullied each week no-one can doubt it’s a really serious issue.

“Much of the problem stems from Government rules that prevent teachers controlling violent or abusive behaviour by some pupils towards others. We would change the law to make sure teachers could take necessary action to stop bullying.

“We’d also make sure that when someone was expelled for bullying they couldn’t be sent back to the school by the Government – the headteacher’s decision would be final. We’ve also supported calls for a code of practice for social networking sites like Facebook – because we know virtual bullying is now a real problem for lots of young people.”