Alice and her family had just moved from London to Manchester. She had already visited her new school but on her first day, she was feeling quite scared. She didn’t know anyone. Would her new teacher be strict? Would she make friends quickly? Would the work be hard? Her mum took her to school and when they arrived, they met Mrs. Jones, the head teacher. Mrs. Jones took Alice to meet her teacher, Mrs. Edwards. As they entered her new classroom, all the children stared but Mrs. Edwards smiled at Alice and, told her to sit down next to Jane. By break, Alice and Jane were getting on well together and they went out to play.

In the afternoon, the class had P.E. Alice had been very ill when she was little and as a result, was not very strong. There was a group of girls in the class who loved P.E. When they discovered that Alice was no good at sport, they began to tease her and push her about. Over the next few weeks, this got worse. They started kicking her and Alice had to hide her bruises from her parents. What should Alice have done? Talk to someone? Put up with the situation and hope that the girls will stop.

Alice thought that if she said nothing, the girls would eventually stop but the bullying got worse. Alice’s teachers and her parents noticed that she had become very quiet and her work started to suffer but she refused to say what the problem was. One evening, after a bad day at school, Alice went upstairs and found a bottle of tablets. She poured herself a glass of water and swallowed some pills. By the time her mum found her, Alice was unconscious. She was rushed to hospital where, fortunately, the doctors were able to save her. Alice should have told someone. Go back and find out what might have happened if she had.

Jane noticed that Alice was unhappy and asked her what the problem was. Alice told her about the girls. Jane told Mrs. Edwards that Alice was being bullied. Mrs. Edwards spoke to Alice and then to the bullies. She told them that they had no right to treat her like that and explained why Alice was not strong. The girls hadn’t understood why Alice didn’t join in with P.E. lessons. Mrs. Edwards kept a careful watch on them but the bullying stopped and Alice began to enjoy her school life once more.

One day, though, another girl joined the class. Becky was excellent at sport and quickly got accepted into the group. When she saw Alice, she began teasing Alice and encouraged the others to join in. Poor Alice! She went to see Mrs. Edwards and told her that the bullying had started again. Mrs. Edwards met Alice’s parents and together they decided that it would be better if Alice changed classes.

Alice settled quickly into her new class. The pupils were very friendly and welcoming with the exception of just one girl, Kate, who was Becky’s twin sister. Becky had told Kate all about Alice and so Kate began to call her names and push her whenever the teacher wasn’t watching. What should Alice do this time? Stand up to Kate and try to bully her instead. Tell the teacher before things get too bad.

Alice tried calling Kate names and push her about but the other girl just laughed at her. Alice realised that it was no good behaving like that. It was likely to make the situation worse as Kate was bigger than Alice and also, by acting like Becky and Kate, Alice was behaving exactly like the bullies who’d made her life so miserable. Go back and find out what else she could have done. =

Alice told her new teqcher, Mr. Smith, about Kate and the problems she’d had in the past with her sister, Becky, and the girls in her old class. Mr. Smith promised Alice that he’d do something about it. However, he was busy and wasn’t able to speak to Kate that day. The next day, Mr. Smith was still busy and by the following day, he had forgotten all about what Alice had told him. Should Alice tell another responsible adult? Should Alice accept the fact that she will always be a victim of bullying?

Alice began to believe that she was all the things the bullies were calling her – lazy, ugly, stupid, dirty ….. Her work suffered and she lost interest in everything. She lost the will to fight. The bullying went on at school day and on the way home. One day, Alice arrived home after a particularly bad day. Both her parents were at work. She went upstairs, found a bottle of tablets, poured herself a glass of water and swallowed a large handful of the pills. By the time her parents returned home, it was too late! Could there have been a happier ending? Go back and find out.

Alice went back to speak to Mrs. Edwards who then went to talk to Mr. Smith. Together, they did their best to stop the bullying. They spoke to all the children and prepared lessons to help their pupils understand that bullying is wrong. Alice was asked if she would explain how she felt when people called her names or pushed and kicked her. Most of the pupils hadn’t realised how unhappy she’d been. The children decided to organise “Brothers and Sisters” – for older pupils to look after younger ones and help them with their problems. Since then, bullying in the school has stopped and life for everyone, including Alice, is much happier.