Together we can beat the bullies [advertiser.ie]
- Published: 07 July 2011
The ISPCC website features the heartbreaking story of Holly (15). After months of suffering at the hands of bullies at school and on a social networking site she plucked up the courage to contact the Childline One to One instant messaging service and admit that she was finding it hard to cope. Holly had her hair pulled and her lunch taken. She was being threatened and called names. Worst of all she was feeling isolated, scared and lonely as her former friends no longer talked to her.
Childline assured Holly that she had a right to be safe and she had a right to tell a trusted adult about what was happening in order to get the support that she needed. She approached a sympathetic teacher and her situation is being dealt with. Unfortunately, not all children finds the help they need. In the most extreme cases young people who are suffering at the hands of bullies may believe that they have no option but to end their lives. What a terrible, tragic, waste of potential that is.
Bullying remains a serious concern for all Irish teenagers. The UNICEF Ireland Changing the Future: Experiencing Youth in Contemporary Ireland report published in April this year found that a shameful 55 per cent of teenagers were bullied and although “cyberbullying” is quite common (20 per cent), traditional forms of bullying are still most prevalent. Almost all were bullied with words, a shocking 24 per cent of those who were physically bullied were beaten up, 33 per cent were attacked, 55 per cent had things thrown at them and 59 per cent had things stolen.
Full Story: www.advertiser.ie
