National Anti Bullying Week 2010

Anti-Bullying Week 2010 November 15 th -19 th : Taking action together Our 2010 campaign is about Taking action together. It challenges all of us - as individuals, as communities and as organisations - to work together to send a clear and positive message that bullying is neither acceptable or inevitable.

What can we do at Hitchin Girls’ School to stamp out bullying?

Are you a bystander to bullying? Taking action to stop bullying Bullying will only stop if we take action together but we know that significant numbers of young people and adults who witness bulling still don’t tell anyone or take action to stop it. Turning a blind eye will not stop bullying.

This National Anti-Bullying Week Hitchin Girls’ School: Want us all to work together to prevent bullying To promote kindness and respect Not be a bystander Tell someone

What is bullying? Bullying is when people deliberately hurt, harass or intimidate someone else.

being teased Text or nasty messages Excluding someone from activities being called names having rumours spread about you being forced to hand over possessions Hitting, kicking or punching being attacked because of religion, gender, sexuality, disability, appearance, etc. A few forms of bullying…

Why do people bully? There are a lot of reasons… to look popular to feel ‘tough’ and ‘in charge’ to make others afraid of them Some bullies may not even realise how wrong their behaviour is

Why can bullying be harmful? Bullying can make people feel:  Lonely  Unhappy and frightened  Unsafe  As if they have no confidence

If you are being bullied… Do not feel ashamed. It is not your fault – but it is important you find help Is there someone you would feel comfortable talking to… someone you trust? When you have decided who to talk to, tell them how you feel Sometimes you may need to talk to more than one person. You have the right to be helped, and do not have to put up with bullying.

“A girl at school was constantly calling me names. I didn’t know what to do, so I called ChildLine. They encouraged me to find an adult I could trust so I could tell them how I felt. Talking about it made me feel a lot better, and the teacher I talked to sorted the other girl out.” Charlotte, 16 If you are being bullied…

If you witness bullying… Don’t ignore what happens Let the person being bullied know that you are there and you are concerned. In school you may need to report the incident Teachers are often the last to find out about bullying. If they are going to do anything they need to know!

If you are bullying someone… “It got to be a habit. The awful thing was that I felt good seeing her cry. The others laughed and that made me feel even better. But then the teacher said he was in hospital because she had tried to hurt herself to get away from the bullying. It was only a bit of fun really – I didn’t mean to take it seriously.” J, 15

If you are bullying someone… You do have a choice! You can stop what is happening Sometimes things happen for you to bully someone else, e.g. you have been bullied yourself, problems at home Try to find someone to share you problems with. Remember, ultimately there is no true happiness in seeing someone suffer because of you.

Some statistics… 1 of 4 school children are bullied 1 of 5 kids admit to being a bully 8% of children miss 1 day of school per month for fear of bullying 43% of students fear harassments in the toilets at school In the UK there is a suicide every 82 minutes because of bullying

Lunchtime statistics… Every 7 minutes a child is bullied: Adult intervention - 4%. Peer intervention - 11%. No intervention - 85%.

Who gets bullied? Even people like David Beckham, Tom Cruise, Ms Dynamite If you are being bullied, you may feel vulnerable, scared, alone but the situation MUST be sorted out. Remember, no-one deserves to be bullied

For some, bullying carries on for years – for others not for so long.. …but every type of bullying is WRONG The only fault lies with the person bullying

Who to talk to… Parents Teachers Friends Peer mentors Just talk to someone – you’re not alone

Take action together to make our school a bully free zone

Together WE can beat Bullying