Thoughts and facts on bullying

Bullying is something which most of us have experienced or seen in our lives. It's sad to think that a lot of people who are bullied, often retreat into their own worlds and are too ashamed to reach out for help, and are often too scared to trust anyone. It's even more disheartening to know that bullying can drive some people to suicide! -That right there is the seriousness of it all, BULLYING KILLS! "Bullied children are 6 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their non-bullied counterparts"As a parent I understand that myself, along with school teachers, are the biggest influence in my children's lives. With my help and guidance my children learn to live and understand life in general, my children rely on me for security and they know they can turn to me to confide in. "18% of children and young people who worried about bullying said they would not talk to their parents about it".
My daughter aged 8, is bubbly, bright, confident, cheeky and full of life, but throughout most of last year [2011] this was not the case. She suffered at the hands of a bully in her school class and the confident young girl we know was now quiet, withdrawn, emotional and insecure. As a parent, all you want is for your children to be happy and most of all to be safe. She doesn't know it, but I cried for her on many occasions. "Almost half (46%) of children and young people say they have been bullied at school at some point in their lives" Even when myself along with her school worked hard and put a stop to the bullying, and built her confidence back up, she still wasn't the same girl she always was. This is because she felt intimidated by the other girl. It was only when the girl in question moved schools, that my daughter got her spark back and is now the ever loving cheeky little girl that everyone loves. But how would she be today if the girl had not have left that school?　
This is my point.. It is not always enough to just intervene and stop the bullying itself from happening. It is not always enough to help the victim in feeling safe, secure and confident. When all that is done, the bully is still a bully, being told no and being watched closely doesn't always change a big deal. We need to find out why they bully, we need to go deeper into the situation to prevent it ever happening again and furthermore we need to then assure the victim of the changes made and assure them it wont be happening again. If we can change their mentality and install remorse then this will play a big part in prevention.
I know that this method does take place, but in my opinion it should happen with every situation and not just the serious ones. Here at TYLP we believe that early intervention is the best prevention. We shouldn't wait for a situation to become extreme before we take the biggest actions. As I stated earlier... BULLYING KILLS. "Each year 10-14 youth suicides are directly attributed to bullying"

STOP BULLYING NOW!!

The facts about bullying!

• 38% of young people have been affected by cyber-bullying.
• 30,439 children called ChildLine in 2010/11 about bullying.
• 38% of disabled children worried about being bullied.
• Almost half (46%) of children and young people say they have been bullied at school at some point in their lives.
• 18% of children and young people who worried about bullying said they would not talk to their parents about it.
• 30,439 children called ChildLine in 2010/11 (11% of calls) about bullying.
• Between 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 ChildLine carried out 30,439 counselling interactions with a primary concern of bullying. This represents 11% of the total counselling interactions undertaken during that period.
• Bullying was the main reason that boys called ChildLine.
• Two thirds (65%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people have experienced homophobic bullying at school.Between 8% and 34% of children and young people in the UK have been cyberbullied, and girls are twice as likely to experience persistent cyberbullying than boys.
• 38% of young people have been affected by cyber-bullying, with abusive emails (26%) and text messages (24%) being the most common methods.
• 28% of children did not tell anyone about the abuse.
• Each year 10-14 youth suicides are directly attributed to bullying (The Home Office)
  Bullied children are 6 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their non-bullied counterparts

A survey of pupils in England estimates that 16,493 young people aged 11-15 (4.4%) are frequently absent from state school or home educated because of bullying.

THE LAW

No matter how bad bullying can seem, many incidents of bullying are not actually crimes, and therefore might not be a matter for the police. The best people to deal with them are parents, teachers or other responsible adults.
But some types of bullying are illegal and should be reported to the police.




violence or assault
theft
harassment and intimidation over a period of time including calling someone names or threatening them, making abusive phone calls, and sending abusive emails or text messages (one incident is not normally enough to get a conviction) anything involving hate crimes .

                The poem featured in the video was written/performed by Yousef Erakat.