An 11-year-old pupil who shares a last name with the American president has been punched and bullied at school because of his name.

The boy’s mother, Megan Trump Berto, said that pupils at Talley Middle School in Wilmington, Delaware, were making life difficult for her son, Joshua.

“They curse at him, they call him an idiot, they call him stupid,” Washington Post quoted her saying.

“The problems started during Trump’s campaign, said Joshua’s stepfather, Bobby Berto.

Noting that his stepson is not related to President Donald Trump, he revealed that he pulled Joshua out of school last year to home-school him because of the issues.

They thought things would be better this year with Joshua’s first year at middle school and took some proactive steps to try to ward off problems.

They met with officials and teachers at the school to tell them about the issue.
But the bullying didn’t stop, the parents said.

“He said he hates himself, and he hates his last name, and he feels sad all the time, and he doesn’t want to live feeling like that anymore, and as a parent that’s scary,” Joshua’s mother said.

Mark Mayer, the principal of the school, said that five students have been disciplined for the issue.

Meanwhile, Joshua is changing his last name, at least in the school’s system, to his stepfather’s, Berto, it was reported.