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“What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Anti-Bullying Week
Anti-Bullying Week 2021
Anti-Bullying Week takes place Monday 15 to Friday 19 November 2021 and our virtual assemblies for pupils during the week will focus on the theme of One Kind Word.
One kind word can make a huge difference to someone's day. Actions and words are powerful - they can change our minds, our thoughts, our feelings - either in a positive or negative direction. Kindness is respect, support, unity, including someone. Small actions make a big difference. The last 20 months have been strange for everyone and we have learned that small acts of consideration and kindness can power positivity, no matter our age. Kindness can be contagious. Kindness should be the norm, however old you are.
One of our School Standards is Kindness: 'We are kind to each other and we prevent bullying in all its forms.' Anti-bullying should be about the positive and kinds things that we can do to stop hurtful behaviour.
What is bullying? The Anti-Bullying Alliance defines it as 'the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. It can happen face to face or online.'
Watch this video from Anti Bullying Alliance for secondary school pupils:
One of the most important lessons we can pass on to our children is to be kind to one another.
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The Anti Bullying Alliance call to action: Ask if someone’s OK. Say you’re sorry. Just say hey. In a world that can sometimes feel like it’s filled with negativity, one kind word can provide a moment of hope. It can be a turning point. It can change someone’s perspective. It can change their day. It can change the course of a conversation and break the cycle of bullying. Best of all, one kind word leads to another. Kindness fuels kindness. So from the playground to Parliament, and from our phones to our homes, together, our actions can fire a chain reaction that powers positivity. It starts with one kind word. It starts today. |
What a difference one kind word can make.
Useful Links:
- Anti Bullying Alliance: I am being bullied
- Anti Bullying Alliance: Advice for parents
- Young Minds: A guide for young people - bullying
- Young Minds: A guide for parents - bullying
- Random Acts of Kindness Foundation: 2021-22 School Kindness Calendar
- National Bullying Helpline
- Ditch The Label: Bullying Support Hub
Why DO some people bully others? There are a number of reasons that someone might bully others, including challenging relationships at home with parents/carers or siblings, but children who bully can come from any social class or cultural background. Bullies may have anger management issues, may want to be in control, may be prejudiced, may want to fit in with a peer group. Generally, bullies have not yet learned kindness, compassion and respect.
Bullying behaviour can be:
- Physical - pushing, poking, kicking, hitting, biting, pinching etc.
- Verbal - name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, threats, teasing, belittling.
- Emotional - isolating others, tormenting, hiding books, threatening gestures, ridicule, humiliation, intimidating, excluding, manipulation and coercion.
- Sexual - unwanted physical contact, inappropriate touching, abusive comments, homophobic abuse, exposure to inappropriate films etc.
- Online /cyber - posting on social media, sharing photos, sending nasty text messages, social exclusion
- Indirect - can include the exploitation of individuals.
What can YOU do to prevent bulling? Be kind. Look out for others. Don't accept any forms of bullying. However, this may be easier to say than do if you are on the receiving end. Talk with someone. Report any form of bullying to someone. Talk with your parents. Talk with someone in school: a member of the Pastoral team, any teacher or member of support staff.
Sometimes young people do not feel comfortable with a face-to-face conversation being the first step in reporting an incidence of bullying, so we have set up an internal anti-bullying email address for pupils to let our Pastoral Team know about any incident of bullying to themselves or to someone else. Pupil should use their school email account, not personal email, to email the internal anti-bullying email address and be prepared for it to lead to a chat with someone in Pastoral.
'No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.' (Aesop)
'We don't have to agree on anything to be kind to one another.' (Unknown)
“No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.” (Amelia Earhart)
Have you read Charlie Mackesy's book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse? It is a beautiful book, both visually and for the content.
“Nothing beats kindness,' said the horse. 'It sits quietly beyond all things.”
“What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Kind", said the boy.”