This week saw the start of National Anti-Bullying Week. Running from 16-20 November 2015. The Anti Bullying Alliance have organised the event with the theme ‘Make a Noise about Bullying’ and the #antibullyingweek social media hashtag. The organisation has partnered with Barclays and is seeking to achieve a number of aims including empowering children and young people to make a noise about bullying – whether it is happening to them or to someone else.
The Alliance is also seeking to help parents have conversations with their children to prevent it and to help those children worried about bullying.
The aim is to encourage ‘talking schools’. These are describes as “where all children and young people are given a safe space to discuss bullying and other issues that affect their lives…” Children are also supported to report all forms of bullying.
The alliance is asking people to get involved in a number of ways. One such way is to email their local MP and ask them to show their support for tackling bullying in our schools, communities and online and attending the Anti-Bullying Week event in the Houses of Parliament on 19 November.
Don’t forget too that NCFE has a range of qualification and support materials that are designed to support your wider PSHE programmes, including our qualifications in Equality and Diversity. To find out more please visit the Schools section of our website or email [email protected].
With the recent news that the number of schoolchildren with mental health issues has risen, with stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and bullying at the forefront of this, it’s so important to ensure all forms of bullying are stamped out and that young people are educated on the effects of bullying.
Young people who have suffered from bullying are at a much greater risk of developing psychological problems as adults, a recent Lancet Psychiatry journal report has shown. Further, children who have been bullied are five times more likely to experience anxiety. These young people are also twice as likely to suffer from depression, and self-harm as youngsters who are treated poorly at home.
To find out more information then why not visit the Anti Bullying Alliance website.
Has your school been taking part in Anti-Bullying Week? What initiatives are you using to tackle bullying?
