World Day of Bullying Prevention is our opportunity to take a stand against it and stomp it out. More and more the schools are seeing violence and bullying happening in schools.
An example of this is illustrated when a pupil wore a pink shirt to school ‘big mistake’.
‘In 2007 two young men by the names of David Shepherd and Travis Price decided that they’d simply had enough. On the first day of school, a day like any other as you may imagine, a student by the name of Jadrien Cota had made a vital error for a young boy starting off a school year. This mistake?
He’d worn a pink shirt. It took almost no time at all for a group of bullies to notice the colour of his shirt, and they immediately started giving him a hard time about it. Observing this, David and Travis decided to take a stand. They went home and purchased 50 pink shirts and handed them out at school the next day, encouraging everyone to take a stand against bullying.
It didn’t take long for this practice to catch on and start to spread around the world, in 2008 Gordon Campbell, the Premier of British Columbia, proclaimed a provincial anti-bullying day. It continued to spread until 2012, when the United Nations took this celebration and pushed it one step further, turning it into an Anti-Bullying campaign on a global scale’.
A few tips in helping, supporting young people -
'You don't have to be an expert in mental health to support and talk to a young person'.
· Understand. ...
· Validate the young person's experiences
· Avoid telling the young person they're wrong
· Empathy vs. negativity
· Focus on their strengths
· Allow young people to come up with solutions.
SUPPORT GROUPS
There are many support groups who can support you.
Young Mind
Text the YoungMinds Crisis Messenger for free 24/7 support across the UK if you are experiencing a mental health crisis.
If you need urgent help, text YM to 85258.
All texts are answered by trained volunteers, with support from experienced clinical supervisors.
Texts are free from EE, O2, Vodafone, 3, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile and Telecom Plus.
Samaritans
Whatever you're going through, call us free any time, from any phone, on 116 123.
The Children’s society
Telephone 0300 303 7000
The Prince’s Trust
0800 842 842
Childline
Call 0800 1111
References
Young Minds
Childline
The Children’s society
The Prince’s Trust
Paraphrased