Bullying

No-one deserves to be bullied. Bullying is when an individual or group of people's behaviour intentionally hurts you either by saying or doing things to upset you or by physically hurting you.

Bullying can take many forms and can include using the Internet (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, MS sites) or mobile phones (text messages) to say unkind things about you.

bullying- worried young man

Bullying is usually a repeated behaviour and one where there is an imbalance of power which makes it difficult for the person being bullied to defend themself.

Sometimes bullying can include deliberately leaving you out of things or deliberately ignoring you.

Anyone can be bullied, it can happen to anybody so it's not something for you to feel ashamed of.

Asking for help

If you think you or someone you know is being bullied ask for help.

If bullying is happening at school, your teacher will have an anti-bullying policy in place that the whole community knows about. Talk to a teacher/adult in school and ask for help or support.

Having the support of someone that cares for you makes problems seem easier to cope with so why not try to tell someone that you trust like a friend, parent or carer, teacher or youth worker.

Read Kate's story here

Help in Herts

Pop into your local Youth Connexions One Stop Shop and ask to speak to a Personal Adviser. Personal Advisers are there to listen to you and to help you to think through the options you have.

Find someone to talk to here.

Other help

You can also visit the Child line website or Call 0800 1111 (sometimes this line gets very busy, so keep trying until you get through).
Having the support of someone that cares for you makes problems seem easier to cope with so why not try to tell someone that you trust like a friend, parent or carer, teacher or youth worker. If one person doesn't listen to you, it's very important not to give up, but talk to someone else.

Could you be a supporter for someone in your school or club?

Click here for information about being a peer supporter

Staying safe

For tips on personal safety whilst out and about visit: suzylamplugh

Mobile Phone safety

Get advice about coping with cyber bullying on mobile phones here.

For more information about bullying:

You are not alone, lots of people experience bullying at some time in their lives. Visit some of these links to find out more about bullying and help available: