Helpline: 0300 323 0169

Telephone: 0845 225 5787

We are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday

Help and advice for children being bullied

If someone is bullying you, call us free on 0300 323 0169

Are you being bullied?

If you think someone is bullying, you walk away. If you cannot walk away easily or if the bullying is causing you to feel sad tell someone you trust exactly what is happening. It might help if you write down what happened and how it made you feel. Write down the names of anyone who saw it happen then Tell someone you trust exactly what happened and why you feel sad. If you are worried or frightened, or if the bullying is causing you to feel sad, call our free helpline.

Call Free on 0300 323 0169

Bullying is behaviour that hurts someone else, it can be physical, hitting or hurting you or it can be mental, like name calling or posting mean comments on social media. Bullying can include:

What is Bullying?

This is NOT your fault

• Being called names and teased

• Hitting, slapping or pushing someone

• Threatening, intimidating or humiliating someone

• It can be constant criticism or spreading rumours

• Stealing your possessions

• Being sent nasty messages by text or online

• Posting horrible or mean comments or photos of you on Social Media

• Commenting on your posts or pictures saying nasty things

Can I report bullying to the police

If you are being bullied, the first thing you should do it talk to an adult. This could be your mum and dad, a relative, a teacher or someone you trust. The police can only get involved if a crime has been committed so if any of the following has happened to you then, YES you should talk to the police.

• You have been physically assaulted or attacked

• Sexually assaulted or touched in a way that's uncomfortable

• Someone has stolen from you

• You're bullied because of your race, sexual identity or disability

• Someone has posted naked photos of you online.

• If you are threatened with a weapon or knife

How do you stop the bullying?

Try to avoid the bully when you are alone

Try and avoid the bully if you can, stay away from places where bullying happens. Don’t give them an opportunity to get you alone. Don’t hide away or bunk off school, but if you can, take a different route to school or class. If you can, walk to school with a parent of a friend whenever you think you might run into the bully.

Try to be brave and don’t react to the bully

Try and be brave and don’t show the bully you are scared or upset. You might get angry or want to fight back but this can make things worse. Bullies are looking for a reaction from you so getting upset or angry will let the bully know they are hurting you and make it more likely that they will bully you again in the future.

If you can, tell the bully to stop

If you feel brave enough, It’s OK to say, “What you just did is not OK with me, it is not nice so please stop doing it” If speaking up seems too hard or not safe, walk away and stay safe.

Tell someone you trust, don’t ever be afraid to ask for help

This can be scary if the bully has told you that they will get you if you say anything. This is how they control you so they can bully you again. They are also afraid of getting in trouble. It’s very important you tell an adult about what is happening, this is not grassing or telling tales. Bullying is wrong and needs to be stopped before some gets hurt. Tell your mum and dad or a teacher what has happened and tell them you are frightened of the bully.

Keep a diary or record the bullying

Sometimes us adults just don’t understand, we may say something like “ It will be OK, don’t worry about it” or “Just stay away from them“ you might be worried your teacher won’t take it seriously and even make things worse by saying something to the bully without actually punishing them. Keeping a diary or recording of the bullying is very powerful and makes it real for adults. It proves that this is happening and gives the adult all the evidence they need to make it stop.

Be Cyber-Savvy

Don’t ever give your name, age, address or contact details to ANYONE online without your parents’ permission. If you are being bullied online, delete or block that person, you can ask an adult for help with this, but you probably know more about computers than they do!

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge with sincere gratitude the support received from Paper Things and Midland Telecom & IT. With their support we have been able to provide vulnerable young people with free diary’s and offer a free to call helpline for children. We can't thank you enough for your support.

www.paperthings.co.uk

www.midlandtelecom.co.uk

The National Bullying Helpline