Joint effort to tackle bullying

Monday 18 November 2019

Efforts to tackle bullying in Guernsey's schools, as part of a national anti-bullying initiative, have been deemed a success, with voluntary organisations and a local business working together on the project.

A survey of more than 1,000 students aged 11 to 16-year-olds, published by the Anti-Bullying Alliance ahead of Anti-Bullying Week last week, found that nearly a quarter (24%) said they have been bullied once a week or more during the last six months.

Pictured: A number of leaflets were given out to pupils offering advice on bullying. 

Nearly one child in every classroom (3%) said they are bullied every day, and one in ten children (11%) said they have missed school due to bullying. 

Even greater numbers said they have made changes to their own lifestyles, such as changing their route to school (14%) while nearly one in five (19%) have steered clear of spending time with friends to avoid being bullied. A similar amount, (19%) have avoided social media and online gaming because of bullying, underlining how being bullied as a child can have serious repercussions, often lasting well into adulthood.

With those statistics in mind, organisations including The Youth Commission for Guernsey and Alderney and Guernsey Mind, worked with Savills, to go into local schools to discuss areas of concern with pupils and to offer advice on how to tackle bullying.

Pictured: The anti-bullying roadshow visited a number of schools. 

It was planned to coincide with the national awareness week, which ran between 11-15 November, and which was organised nationally by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, with the overall aim of raising awareness among children and young people, their parents and carers, on the issue of bullying.

Locally, the team went into Les Beaucamps High, La Mare De Carteret High, Ladies’ College, St Sampson’s High and Elizabeth College, to raise awareness and to offer support. 

Pictured: The anti-bullying roadshow visited a number of schools. 

As well as talking to any pupils, parents or staff, they offered brochures from Guernsey Mind and Youth Commission on where to find help and how to recognise bullying, played flash card games with the children and gave out #antibullyingweek wristbands and pens.

Pictured: Pupils were given varying forms of advice to try and tackle bullying. 

Richard Fox, Head of Residential at Savills Guernsey, said: “We were pleased to have been part of this initiative. Following a quick straw poll in the office, it was genuinely alarming to note how many of our employees said they’d been affected by bullying – either during childhood or even as an adult. Education and awareness is one way to counter the pervasive nature of bullying, which can have a devastating effect on a person’s confidence and well-being.”

Dani Barnett, of Savills, who coordinated the initiative with Youth Commission, said: “We have had great feedback from the schools, with the children showing great interest in learning and talking about bullying.”

Pictured top and above: all images provided by Savills.