Building a Bully-Free Future

For Anti-Bullying Week City Year Mentor Shabnam spoke to 3 of her fellow mentors who are currently serving at Audenshaw Boys High School to get their perspectives on bullying prevention. In the piece, Shabnam unpacks their viewpoints and experiences while also reflecting on her own thoughts on the subject. 

Around 6% of young people have reported that they’ve experienced bullying on a daily basis, while 9% have reported experiencing bullying between once a week and once a month. Bullying can lead to long-lasting self-esteem issues, causing individuals to view themselves as unworthy or inferior. As well as this, bullying has had a long-standing impact on the education and well-being of children and young people.

Anti-Bullying Week is the opportunity needed to raise awareness and encourage a positive change around bullying in education. I decided to speak to Koyinsola (a City Year Mentor in my school) about the topic and she agreed that Anti-Bullying Week is very important in fostering respectful attitudes towards one another. She also believes it’s important to remind those who are getting bullied that they’re not alone and that they can get help. Hopefully, during this week, all the assemblies given and posters hung up in school, will provide a safe and secure environment for students to feel comfortable speaking up in. I also spoke about Anti-Bullying Week with another mentor in my team called Tanya. She said that this awareness campaign allows people to be educated on why bullying is wrong and may give people the opportunity to learn about who to go to when they’re being bullied and how to get through it.

I also approached a third mentor in my team, Michelle, to get her thoughts on the topic of bullying. Michelle expressed that she’s never experienced bullying herself, but has personally witnessed it a lot when she was in school. When she was in junior high, she heard about a pretty girl who was bullied by others at another school. When Michelle became classmates with her in high school she tried to stay away from her because she thought “if I were close to someone who was bullied, people might see us as the same. I might experience what she had experienced before.” However, things changed in Year 11 as their school adopted a new teaching method: students were randomly assigned into groups of 5-6, and the groups would discuss problems in class and complete class exercises together. She and Michelle happened to be in the same group and became desk mates. When they became desk mates, Michelle found that she was very serious about her studies. She specially prepared an error book and copied all the wrong questions into it. When Michelle asked her questions, she was very patient in answering them. Gradually, Michelle found that her new deskmate was a kind and easy-going person.

Michelle’s story highlights the widespread impact of bullying and the collective need to intervene in these situations. As Michelle puts it, “bullying can affect others’ attitudes towards the one who is bullied, and it has a significant and long-lasting influence on a person’s life.” Everyone should take responsibility, even if they are an outsider. It is essential to create an open environment for students to talk about being bullied, without feeling embarrassed or ashamed. In the example Michelle gave, if a safe environment had been created for the victim in junior high, she may have felt safe to open up sooner. I had personally never felt comfortable speaking about or reflecting on consistent rude comments and insults during my time in high school due to the lack of recognition of bullying within the school, and the different forms it takes. I believe the shame that may come with being a victim of bullying can be overcome through measures like anonymous reporting systems that allow students to report bullying anonymously. This can help ensure that incidents are reported without fear of retaliation.

Koyinsola shares these sentiments, she feels that if her school had had more anti-bullying measures, such as celebrating Anti-Bullying Week, she would’ve felt more supported and safe during her time in school. Koyinsola also feels that other measures to minimise or prevent bullying, such as safe spaces within the school, where students can go if they feel threatened or need a break, should also be put in place to combat bullying throughout the school year. Early intervention and ongoing support can help mitigate the effects of bullying and promote healing. Tanya was an anti-bullying ambassador when she was at school, she noticed that raising awareness and talking about bullying made people feel heard and understood. Bullying may never fully disappear but she strongly believes that raising awareness does the world of good for making people feel heard and supported.

I agree with my team that this can be done with clear anti-bullying policies outlining firm consequences and confirming what constitutes as bullying. Equally, the school Team Pride is serving in has a major amount of low-level bullying that often goes under the radar being passed off as banter. To combat this, the school gave out kindness badges as a reward for complimenting someone on World Kindness Day. In a school setting it’s important for students to think before reacting and for them to reflect on the consequences of the words they use. The use of rewards encourages young people to make the right choice, which reflects the theme of Anti-Bullying Week this year: “Choose Respect”.

At Audenshaw Boys High School in honour of World Kindness Day, the city year team encouraged students at break and lunch to come to write a pledge thanking a parent, teacher, friend, or family member. The turnout was beyond any of our expectations and this may have been due to the enticing reward of receiving a badge and a kindness achievement point, but the amount of sincere and genuine responses was truly heartwarming. This sort of positivity made regular, can outweigh the effects of bullying that students may face. This outlines the importance of celebrating events like World Kindness Day as it allows students to reflect on others and feel appreciated themselves. This day brought together many students from all year groups and this sense of unity and community is absolutely moving to see as a City Year Mentor.

After hearing the perspectives and experiences of the City Year Mentors in my team and students at the school I am serving in, I feel it is clear that collective action and constant awareness raising are crucial to tackling bullying. By doing so we can ensure that every individual feels safe, valued and respected.