Anti Bullying Thought for the Week

Day 1 - Cyber-bullying Why do bullies find it easier to cyber –bully? Cyberbullying is on the rise. Since January 2009, the UK charity Family Lives reports that it has seen calls to its bullying helpline increase by 13%, while calls specifically about cyberbullying have soared by 77%. Appearance is a common target for cyberbullying attacks – and girls experience it twice as much as boys, according to The Protection of Children Online Why do bullies find it easier to cyber –bully? Is cyber-bullying any different to physical or verbal bullying? How could someone protect themselves against cyber-bullies?

Day 2 – Why do bullies bully? In your groups come up with reasons a young person might bully another Share them with the class Is it possible to feel sorry for a bully? What message would you give to someone who bullies someone else? There are lots of different reasons as to why people become bullies. Possibilities include... having family problems, being bullied themselves, being selfish or spoilt and always want to get their own way, having no friends and feel lonely, feeling bad about themselves and want to make other feel bad too, taking out their own frustration on others, feeling insecure and unimportant - bullying gives them power, bullied into joining a bully gang and have gone along with things just to keep on the bully's good side, not understanding how bad victims feel Bullies use 'differences' e.g. 'wearing glasses', 'too good at exams' and 'too creative' as an excuse for their bad behaviour. It's not the 'difference' in the victim that's the problem - it's the bullies who have the problem because they are: Afraid, Jealous, Envious, Cruel, Angry , Insecure, Unhappy

Day 3 – What is homophobia? You would never use a racist term as an insult so why would you use a homophobic term? What can we do to challenge this in school?

Day 4 - Bullying tragedies Bullied for being clever Bullied for making a bad decision online All of these young people felt they could not go on due to the bullying they experienced . We NEVER want our young people to feel like that-the next slide shows support that young people can reach out to if they are being bullied Bullied because people thought he was gay Bullied for being different

Day 4 – Who can help? Anti-bullying ambassadors who are trained to help young people Teachers, support staff Family and friends needtotalk@newporthigh.co.uk http://www.childline.org.uk http://beyondbullying.com The anti bullying ambassadors are trained in supporting young people. They are doing assembly this week and their photos can be found on level one next to Science.