What if you see someone being bullied?
Don’t be an onlooker and don’t be tempted to join in with people who bully. Even if you are not the ringleader, laughing and agreeing with a bully will only make matters worse.
Tell a teacher about what is happening, they might not know the school has a problem.
If you don’t think your school is doing enough to tackle bullying, get together with your friends to suggest ways of improving things.
You could make some suggestions to the school council or to a member of staff and help draft an anti-bullying charter.
What can you do if you are doing the bullying?
Bullies do what they do for a reason, often they are unhappy or are trying to seem tough to avoid being bullied themselves.
Even if you are not a ringleader, you could still get into trouble.
You could find yourself being kept in, barred from school trips, given detention or even suspended or expelled.
The law also takes bullying very seriously.
If you are over the age of criminal responsibility, which is ten in England and Wales, there is the chance that you could be charged with assault or harassment.
Using the internet and mobile phones to bully people is just as bad as face-to-face bullying.
It can seem easy to bully someone in cyberspace but in reality the police can easily track nasty messages back to computers and mobile phones.
If you are a bully or you are in a group of bullies, it can be difficult to stop. Speak to a teacher or another trusted adult. Ask them for help and advice on how to change your behaviour.
