Bullying
Anti-Bullying Week 2009 will take place from 16 – 20 November. Anti-Bullying Week is coordinated by the Anti-Bullying Alliance which unites over 60 UK-wide organisations, including the NSPCC, with the aim of reducing bullying and creating safer environments, in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn.
Chris Cloke, head of child protection awareness, currently chairs the Anti-Bullying Alliance and Esther Rantzen is its president.
This year’s campaign, Stay safe in Cyberspace, focuses on cyberbullying and, in particular, the use of mobile phones and the internet. Unfortunately, because cyberbullying is indirect rather than physical, it is not always taken as seriously as other forms of bullying. This year’s activities will put cyberbullying in the spotlight, delivering the message that cyberbullying is bullying and, worse still, it can be 24/7.
Whilst the focus is on encouraging children to stay safe in cyberspace, the NSPCC is also calling for parents and carers to help children stay safe online and to underline that cyber bullying is wrong. We are also calling for internet service providers to respond quickly when children report bullying and to ensure that social networking sites regularly review content on their sites and make it easy for users to report inappropriate content so that it can be taken down quickly.
NSPCC advice for parents and carers to help keep children and young people safe online
The NSPCC is calling for parents and carers to help their children stay safe in cyberspace, as part of Anti-Bullying Week 2009 (16-20 November).
Advice for parents and carers:
- Go on the internet with your child and agree what sites are OK to visit. Regularly check that they are staying within the agreed limits.
- Encourage your child to talk to you about what they have been doing on the internet. Make sure they feel able to speak to you if they ever feel uncomfortable, upset or threatened by anything they see online.
- Encourage kids to look out for each other when they’re online. Explain that it’s all part of staying safe and having fun together.
- Explain to children that it’s not safe to reveal personal information, such as their name, address or phone number on the internet. Encourage them to use a cool nickname rather than their own name.
- Attachments and weblinks on emails can contain viruses and may expose children to inappropriate material. Teach children to only open attachments or click on links from people they know.
Visit the Anti-Bullying Alliance website for more information.
http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/
NSPCC activities to support Anti-Bullying Week 2009
Sugar / ChildLine Stand Up, Speak Out Campaign
In July and August 2009 Sugar, the magazine aimed at young teens, ran a competition as part of the Sugar/ ChildLine Stand Up, Speak Out (SUSO) Campaign. Young people were asked to get creative by designing a poster, writing a short passage or filming a video that would make bullies rethink their actions or to encourage those being bullied to seek help.
The winning poster design, which promotes ChildLine, has been sent by Sugar to schools across the country for use in this year’s Anti-Bullying Week.
To tie-in with this year’s Anti-Bullying Week we have also been running a series of polls and hosting monthly webchats on sugarscape.com.
Partnership with the Guinness Premiership League
This year’s Anti-Bullying Week marks the beginning of the second year of the Kicking Bullying into Touch Programme which was launched by ChildLine and Premier Rugby, with support from the DCSF, in November 2008 and involves a player ambassador from each Guinness Premiership rugby club including: Steve Borthwick, the Saracens and England captain, Paul Sackey and Ugo Monye.
17,256 children aged six to 11 years old in 360 schools across England have taken part in the first year of the programme. The programme has been a great success with 97% of the children who gave feedback saying that they had a better understanding of the different forms of bullying after they had attended the programme.
Year two will see a further 420 sessions taking place and with assemblies following the sessions it is aimed that the programme will teach over a quarter of a million children how to tackle bullying over two years.
Media work
National media
- Real Radio - Websafe Internet Safety Campaign 2009
As part of a week long internet safety campaign, supported by Government Victims’ Champion Sara Payne, Real Radio* will publish a new survey on 16 November 2009. The survey is based on interviews with 3,680 pupils, aged 11 to 15-years old, from secondary schools across the UK between May and July this year and reveals 16 per cent have been the victims of cyber-bullying or online abuse, with six in ten suffering in silence and telling no-one about what was happening to them.
* Real Radio is part of the Guardian Media Group and a network of regional radio stations broadcasting across the UK.
- BBC Radio 1Xtra
On Friday 20 November, CHIPS specialist development coordinator Alex Gray, will take part in a web chat on the BBC Radio 1Xtra website. Alex will be online to answer questions for one hour from 5pm.
Regional media
- Read the regional press release [link to follow]
Links with the 20th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The 20th anniversary of the publication of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) falls during Anti-Bullying Week and will be celebrated worldwide on 20 November. Many of the rights and responsibilities in the convention have a direct bearing on anti-bullying work. Anti-Bullying Week provides a good opportunity to make the link between the UNCRC and the rights of children to access communication systems and to feel safe and confident in the cyberworld. To mark the occasion, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) have produced an anniversary pack for schools which includes a collection of resources for schools, practitioners and young people.
The NSPCC will mark the anniversary by formally launching the NSPCC EduCare Children’s Rights Programme which is intended for anyone who comes into contact with children and young people in their work, leisure or voluntary activities.
Developed in collaboration with Carolyne Willow from Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) and with input from a range of professionals and children and young people, the new NSPCC EduCare Children’s Rights programme is available as both a paper and an e-learning programme which is relevant throughout the UK.
Further information about the programme is available at www.nspcc.org.uk/childrensrights.
Blue Friday
Blue Friday is at the end of Anti-Bullying Week (20 November). The Anti-Bullying Alliance encourages children to do something special in their school such as getting everyone to wear blue for the day, holding an assembly to talk about cyberbullying and how to tackle it, designing screensavers to use throughout the school and so on.
Bullying Z card
The Bullying Z card is a publication for young people aged eight to 14 years, which was designed to raise awareness about what constitutes bullying and to provide young people with a range of responses to bullying.
The Bullying Z card can be bought by visiting Help bullying stop! (NSPCC inform) http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforteachers/classroomresources/helpbullyingstop_wda48942.html whilst NSPCC colleagues can request a single Help Bullying Stop! pack or z-card, from Publications or by emailing the Public Enquiry Point (PEP) 020 7825 2775.
Tags: Anti-Bullying Alliance, Anti-Bullying Week, BBC Radio 1Xtra, Blue Friday, Bullying, Child Safety, ChildLine Stand Up, Children's Rights Alliance for England, Chris Cloke, cyberbullying, DCSF, Esther Rantzen, Guardian Media Group, Guinness Premiership League, NSPCC, Paul Sackey, Real Radio, Rights of the Child, Speak Out Campaign, Stay safe in Cyberspace, Steve Borthwick, SUSO, Ugo Monye, Websafe Internet Safety Campaign
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