Bullying
Bullying has for many years been acknowledged as a serious problem in schools, (Smith & Brian, 2002). Bullying is defined as aggressive behaviour which is experienced repeatedly over time, bullying involves the systematic abuse of power where the perpetrator intends to cause the victim harm (Nansel et al., 2001; Smith & Brian, 2002). In their study exploring the prevalence of bullying, Smith et al. (2004) found that that approximately 10 – 20% of adolescents had experienced some form of bullying in the 3 to 6 months prior to completing their survey. Further research has also shown that being a victim of bullying can have a serious and sometimes long-term negative impact on psychological well-being (Hawker & Boulton, 2000).
Being bullied at school, home or online might involve:
- verbal bullying e.g. calling you names
- emotional bullying e.g. teasing you, talking about you, leaving you out
- physical bullying e.g. pushing you, hitting you
- cyber-bullying e.g. text message, facebook, email
Tackling bullying is taken seriously in York. In 2011 schools in York have been invited to take part in a survey about bullying involving children and young people.
Useful Resources
Below are details of some publications and websites which offer guidance and materials on tackling bullying which you may find useful.
Local Support
Training around Anti Bullying can be accessed from the Local Authority, through the following -
Policies and Practice
Education Development Service/School Improvement
-
Yvette Bent yvette.bent@york.gov.uk - Senior Adviser Behaviour, Attendance and Safety
-
Sam Dunderdale sam.dunderdale@york.gov.uk - Consultant Behaviour, Attendance and Safety
Educational Psychology Service
-
Tina Hardman tina.hardman@york.gov.uk - Senior Educational Psychologist, School Psychologists
Safeguarding and Cyber bullying
Education Development Service/School Improvement
-
Yvonne Methley yvonne.methley@york.gov.uk - ICT Consultant
Safeguarding Team
-
Dee Cooley dee.cooley@york.gov.uk - Safeguarding Adviser (Children's Workforce), City of York Safeguarding Children Board
-
Caroline Williamson caroline.williamson@york.gov.uk - Safeguarding Advisor (Education)
PREVENT/Hate Crime
Community Safety Partnership, Communities & Neighbourhoods
-
Jackie Jackson Jackie.Jackson@york.gov.uk - Prevent & Hate Crime Coordinator (Community Safety)
Other Support
We have a page on this website that gives information and advice to children and young people about bullying. As well as talking to an adult at school children and young people can ring Childline on 0800 11 11 and talk to them about anything that has upset them or makes them worry.
-
Childline 0800 1111
Anti-Bullying Week
Anti-bullying Week 2011 will be held from 14-18 November. With the slogan ‘Stop and think – words can hurt’ this year’s campaign is focused on tackling verbal bullying. Young people at the ABA Youth Summit 2010 raised concerns about the negative use of language in schools and the wider community – expressions like ‘you’re so gay’ and words like ‘sket’ and ‘slag’. They saw this as a key indicator of bullying or a hostile environment.
Search for services
Staying Safe on the Internet
Think You Know is a website that gives information on keeping stay safe when using the internet and also lets children and young people report anything which is worrying them or making them uncomfortable.
