Instructions
Preparation
Why do we need to take action against bullying?
Sadly, bullying is really common. In a study of young people in the UK aged 12-20, half of them said they had been bullied. About 1.5 million young people in the UK were bullied last year, and many of these were bullied every day. People who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. They might lose interest in the activities they enjoy, avoid spending time with other people and not go to classes or school, which has a negative effect on their learning.
What is bullying?
Bullying is not just physical, like hitting or kicking someone, or taking their things without permission. Bullying can also be with words – saying or writing things that are not nice. Another type of bullying is social – choosing not to include someone, embarrassing someone or telling other people not to be friends with them. Bullying can happen at school, on public transport, when you're walking home, online ... in fact, it can happen anywhere. Bullying involves an imbalance of power – one person (or a group of people) that is more powerful than another. Maybe this person has private information or is more popular, or maybe they are physically bigger and stronger.
The roles kids play
Bullying usually involves more people than you think. There are the people who bully and those who are bullied. (It is better not to say ‘the bully’ and ‘the victim’ because that makes it sound like things can’t change.) Sometimes other people help the bully or join in. Then there are the kids that support – they don’t bully anyone directly, but they support the bullying by being an audience. They laugh or encourage the children who are bullying in other ways. This is why it’s important for everyone to work together against bullying. Some children see what is happening and want to help, although they don’t know how. Others may comfort and defend the person being bullied. To stop bullying we need everyone to be brave and take a stand.
How to help
Does your school do anything to prevent bullying? Why don’t you create a student anti-bullying group? This group can do many things. Let the head teacher know how well the school is doing with fighting bullying and give them advice. Choose an anti-bullying slogan for your school, make posters and displays or take over the school’s social media for a week to send out anti-bullying messages.
Bullying is a social problem and it needs a solution from society – in other words, everyone. The next time you see someone being cruel to someone else, take a stand! Don’t laugh or ignore what’s happening – tell an adult as soon as possible and help everyone to realise that bullying is not OK.
Worksheets and downloads
Discussion
Did you learn anything new from reading this? What's the most important thing to remember about bullying?
Comments
Yeah, I agree with you, because many times people don´t stand over!
But, we need to be brave for stping bulling.
What I read in this text is what most of us already heard or maybe even experienced it. Bulling is something very commun, unfortunately, and it is a problem in most of places of the world, especially in schools. There are schools without bulling around the world, yes, but it's almost an utopia. The most inportant thing to remember about it, besides everything that we try to do to avoid the situation help (every little action is not in vain), is not to give up, always try to stop this horrible thing, that is almost a disease in our society.
i agree with you that asking for help doesn't mean giving up. but, some people don't know how to ask for help. they just shut up, they don't tell anyone how they really feel. it's sad though. i think that happens because they aren't used to tell people their feeling. or they just get emberrased if they tell someone their condition.
I think that some schools don't do enough and say that it was just a joke or that it's there fault. Also parents of people that bully are irresponsible and don't understand there accusations.
The bullying is something that makes me upset but in a good way I dont see it in my highscool (at least no in a big way), all talked here is a thing that I already knew but is nice having places like this who can give mentality to people.
I think bullying is horrible and it makes me sad people suffer from it everyday
I think don't bullying some one and them will worry and sad..................................
It’s true here what i read . This bullying happens in every country and schools , we should stop bullying each we should respect each other . Especially in my school. Students are so bad they are bullies everyday they like to bully children especially me they don’t eave to go out sometimes they tell bad words to me and others but especially me they like attack me i hate them but i have nothing to do in just go to school and learn and come back home and do my other work but ost studying . So bully its very bad and everyone should take a stand
Dear Zaudi,
hello, Admins
could you please tell me, if someone upvotes or replies my comment, will there any notification for me?
thank you :)
Hi hermione123,
We don't send notifications if someone replies or votes for your comment. The only way to see it is to come back and check.
Best wishes, Jo (LearnEnglish Teens Team)
Dear, JoEditor
thanks a lot for answering my question. And, I'm really sorry if I've asked the same question several times, because I always forget on which post i've asked.
Best wishes,
Hermione123
I didn't learn nothing new from this article because I already heard this things multiple times when we were talkinng in class. By the way it's a delicate topic but the advices for me are useful.
I also didn't learn anything new since we talk about bullying at school, but what you should do is stand up to bullies, tell them to back off. I think the person who's being bullied is threatened not to snitch, so maybe that's why they're not telling anyone about what's happening to them.
I learned a lot of things reading this text.
Bullying is a common behavior nowdays , mostly social bulling.
To stop it we should be more brave and take a stand.
We shouldn't ignore this proble.
We shouldn't bullying. it makes people sad. Mean words make a man very sad.
Yes, I did. From this reading I learned many new things. I think it's important to prevent bullying but also to help the victim overcome the difficult situation. The most important thing is to create listening and support groups so that people don't feel alone and understand that it's right to talk someone.
Agree, we should stand up and use our voice to help others too
I agree too.
i didn't learn new things because i already knew them. i think the most important thing is not to be silent and ask for help.
Yes I learned a lot of things with this text. I think that the people have to help the victims of bullying
I think i learned that even if i'm not the boy that is bullied i should denounce the bully, and not just worry about my business but help the other people
Bullies can ruin people's lives, mentally and physically. It is important to create support groups and talk about problems with reliable friends and adults.
yes I have learned something, it must be remembered that to make bullying happen you have to be strong and speak with family, teachers or friends. because it can be difficult to overcome this situation alone.
I guess the bully are helplessly unhappy or in frustration. As is often the case, they are double-faced: one as a good lad in front of their parents/teachers who place more expectations on their kid; the other as a bully finding an outlet to relieve stress of their false self. That is to say, it's easy to prey on the weakness of a bully!
I learned a lot while reading this text. I think the most important thing to remember about bullying is that you shouldn't ignore bullying.
i agree with you, Andrii. i think, if we know someone whom bullied, we really need to speak up.
The most important thing is not to be silent! Parents should talk to their children and explain the consequences of such behavior. A person which is bullied needs family support and understanding for being more confident.
Bullying can destroy a life and destroy someones future, so do not ever bully someone even if that person is not as good as you .You have to know what are you doing and will you like if some kid will bully you.
I agree with you
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