Bullying
Bullying can happen in different areas such as school, at your work, at home or when you are out doing things.
There are different ways of bullying, such as:
- Physical: hitting, kicking, or punching
- Verbal: teasing or name-calling
- Relational: excluding other people or telling others not to talk to the person
- Social: making demands for money and favours, stealing or hiding a person's personal things
NONE of these ways of bullying are OK. If you are doing one or more of these things to a person (being the bully) or people doing these things to you (being the victim) this behaviour needs to be stopped.
Bullying can happen because people think its OK to do those things to people that are different.
Maybe you feel different from your friends since your parents broke up. But that shouldn't be a reason to have those things done to you or to do them to another person. It might help to remember that you are not the only one whose parents are separated or divorced. In Australia in 2007 there were almost 50,000 children and young people whose families divorced. If you look around, you probably find other people whose parents are separated.
When other people bully you about being from a separated family it's about their own stuff and not about you. They are not your friends.
If bullying happens to you:
- remember that it's not your fault
- concentrate on positive things that happen in your life
- remember the positive things in yourself
- try to stay with friends
- talk to a teacher - it's their duty to make sure you are safe at school
- do things that make you feel strong (such as going to a self-defence class, go running or swimming...)
