Every year in November the Anti-Bullying Alliance co-ordinate National Anti-Bullying Week. The aim of this week is to get everyone to come together to work to stop bullying.

The theme for this year's National Anti-Bullying Week is ‘CHANGE STARTS WITH US’.

Aims:

This Anti-Bullying Week they want to:

• Empower children and young people to celebrate what makes them, and others, unique.
• Help children and young people understand how important it is that every child feels valued and included in school, able to be themselves, without fear of bullying
• Encourage parents and carers to work with their school and talk to their children about bullying, difference and equality
• Enable teachers and other children’s workforce professionals to celebrate what makes us ‘all different, all equal’ and celebrate difference and equality. Encouraging them to take individual and collective action to prevent bullying, creating safe environments where children can be themselves.

Nobody has the right to make you feel bad about yourself; violence, name calling, teasing are all unacceptable and need to be stamped out. Bullying can happen to anyone at any age and you may now someone who suffers at the hands of bullies.

Is it Banter or Bullying?

Bullying or Banter? from Gary Rogers on Vimeo.

If you are being bullied it can very often feel like you are all alone and that nothing will make it go away, often leaving people feeling depressed, anxious and frightened.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone and chatting things through will not only make you feel better but also stop the bullying at its source.

Almost every school has a ‘No tolerance’ policy to bullying and will do all they can to stop this problem and get you the help and protection you need.

There are lots of great websites you can visit for more advice such as:- Anti Bullying Alliance. Or Childline on 0800 1111 who are there to listen and advise and all calls are confidential and free of charge. Just by speaking to someone you will be starting to take back control of your life.

Liam Payne of One Direction was a victim of bullying and his advice is to always tell someone straight away, he believes keeping this problem to yourself can be more damaging to you in the long run.

Change starts with us

For more on bullying see our blogs entitled

What is Bullying?

Keeping Safe in Cyberspace

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