This week marks Anti-Bullying Week, giving us the vital opportunity to raise awareness of what has been and continues to be a serious problem amongst children and young people and to highlight ways of preventing and responding to it. Bullying, regardless of whether it occurs online or in person can have a devastating impact on the victim, affecting their self-worth, leave them feeling isolated and potentially being a trigger for depression.

In the worst case scenarios, bullying has driven children and young people to self-harm and even suicide. Children and young people who are bullied also have fewer friendships, have problems adjusting to school, and don’t do as well, which in turn affects their ability to fulfil their potential.

Throughout 2016 we, at the NSPCC, have been marking 30 years of Childline, a free and confidential helpline for children and young people, and it saddens me to say that bullying has consistently remained one of the top ten issues we have counselled young people for since its inception. Last year we counselled 25,740 children and young people about bullying, and these are just the ones who reached out to us. Many children might not tell anyone because they’re scared the bullying will only get worse.

Anti-bulling efforts

It can be hard for parents to know whether their child is being bullied − let alone teachers, who have to manage a classroom of pupils. But it’s something that isn’t going away. I believe we all have a responsibility to look out for signs of bullying in children, which can include losing interest in their school work to their belongings getting “lost”. It can also be more serious, manifesting itself in physical injuries − such as unexplained bruises − to being nervous, losing confidence, or becoming distressed and withdrawn.

However, in this day and age bullying doesn’t just take place in school, the park or playground, but also when children get home and go online. Cyber-bullying is a serious and spiralling problem; we’ve had a 13 per cent increase in contacts to Childline about it in the last year alone. It happens on social networks, games and mobile phones, and can include spreading rumours about someone, or posting nasty or embarrassing messages, images or videos. Young people tell us they feel they can’t escape this relentless harassment.

Keeping children safe online, including from the threat of cyber-bullying is one of the biggest child protection challenges of this generation. What makes it even harder is that technology is moving so quickly, with the younger generation constantly being offered new ways to communicate with each other. However, we have no choice but to tackle this issue head-on, working closely with government and the IT industry to make sure the internet is as safe a space as possible for our younger generation to be and interact on. After all, thousands of young futures are depending on us to succeed.  

Peter Wanless is CEO of NSPCC.

Children and young people can always contact our free, confidential helpline Childline, whenever they need us. They can call us on 0800 1111, or email or live chat with us on www.childline.org.uk.

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