BULLYING – YOU CAN STOP IT

They’re Not Important – They’re Just Mean

Quick. Write down 5 great things about yourself right now. If you’re good at sports, have neat handwriting, keep your room tidy, help your brothers and sisters, do well at schoolwork, or think you are a kind and helpful person, then you can have confidence and feel good about yourself!  That’s the best defence against bullies.

Bullies try to find something in their victims to pick on, so if you feel good about yourself and know that you are a great person, it gives the bully NO power. And power is just what a bully wants so they can hurt or control other people.

Bullying can be:
Physical – using punches, kicks and hitting.
Verbal – using words to call names or threaten.
Social – leaving someone out on purpose, and ignoring.
Cyber – using electronic ways (Internet, cellphones) to make fun of someone, send threats, or broadcast the ways they’ve been able to hurt others.

The bullying behaviour is always about power. It is repeated and intentional.  It is not just kids being kids or anything to do with good homes or bad homes. It is NOT a normal part of growing up.  NO KID SHOULD BE AFRAID to go to school, ride the school bus, turn on a computer or walk to their locker.

What can you do?  Like yourself. Be confident, and know that if you are a victim of a bully it is NOT your fault.  Be brave. Stay calm.  Ignore what they say or do to you if possible. Never fight back or bully back. Write down the details and tell an adult that will help you.  If you see another person being bullied, speak up.  When someone else says, “don’t do that” or “stop it”, or when you go and tell right away, bullying behaviour ends FAST.  And if someone in your group starts to bully someone else, never join in.  It doesn’t make you important, it just makes you mean.

Bullies need to be stopped; so be yourself, and be proud.