Dealing with school bullies

A lot of people my age are bullied regularly, writes Natalie Beech.
In 2004 the first anti-bullying week took place. Celebrities
publicised the week by wearing blue armbands. This approach is good
because it shows that Bullying is still a problem in British
schools but that people we admire are against it. So young people
will follow their example and fight against bullying.

Young people who are bullied find it hard to stand up for
themselves, because they do not have the words or actions to fight
what bullies say or do. They need information and support, and also
encouragement. It takes a lot of confidence to stand up to someone
who could easily hurt you. It also takes a lot of confidence to
ignore bullies. We need dedicated and trained teachers to help stop
bullying, to watch for the signs and help children work together to
combat it.

Bullying is seen by a lot of people my age as a laugh, but it is
often rooted in insecurity. Bullies feel the need to be popular, to
fit in, and often go to extremes to do that. The problem is that
most punishments don’t eradicate the problem completely. We can’t
stop bullies abusing others by punishing them, or excluding them –
that will probably make it worse. But private, confidential
counselling could be really effective in helping them if it was
widely available.

Luckily, in my school there is hardly any bullying. We have been
helped to support one another and to work together in our classes
to make sure that we all get on and feel safe with each other. This
makes a huge difference, and I hope that soon other schools will
follow our lead and try and solve the problem, not just punish the
bullies.

Natalie Beech, age 12