This week the Anti-Bullying Alliance is coordinating national Anti-Bullying Week; a week where young people, schools and parents are encouraged to come together in order to stamp down on bullying once and for all. As members of the local community, it is up to us to support schools and youth groups in a bid to explore our collective role in tackling bullying here in Swindon.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance supported by the Department for Education, has released research which states that 1 in 10 children have reported being bullied. Furthermore 44% of children have witnessed another child being bullied, whilst 25% of children are worried about being bullied. What is also shocking is that 8 out of 10 young people with learning difficulties have experienced bullying at some stage.
This is why it is important to continue to support local organisations which aim to provide a safe environment which support young people. This includes the Swindon Ten to Eighteen Project (STEP), a registered charity which aims to support children who experience isolation and exclusion by using creative group work to teach social skills and help build confidence. Based in the Nyth Community Centre, STEP offers weekly sessions for young people to take part in a variety of workshops including building relationships and anger management. The project makes a real difference to local young people as they undergo a remarkable transformation into confident and fun-loving young people.
Elsewhere, I am also pleased to have worked with Swindon resident, Carney Bonner, to support his campaign to put an end to cyber bullying. In a world where a vast majority of communication between young people is online, Carney has worked hard to secure National Lottery Funding to run free workshops in schools which aim to educate young people about online safety and how to report online bullying. The next step for this swindon-based campaign is to work alongside the young persons charity Fixers, to encourage social media companies to make it easier to report cyber bullying.
In Parliament I have worked with national children's charity Kids Count on campaigns which reach out to schools and enable fellow pupils to spot bullying and stand up for their peers. Earlier this year I helped to launch their ‘iSTANDfor School Challenge,’ a national campaign which uses music and social media to empower young people and encourage self-confidence, with the aim to help them stand up against bullying.
Whilst there is still much to do to clamp down on bullying, here in Swindon, we have a number of fantastic organisations focused on stopping bullies and helping those who become victims. As a community, it’s our job to come together and support them.
