16,000 students skip school everyday due to being bullied

BY AQUILLA 10Q

Bullying, sadly a common occurrence in many schools worldwide, occurs in a number of forms: cyber, physical and verbal. This means that today’s youth have no escape as it can happen in school, out of school as well as online.

Cyber bullies, also known as ‘online trolls’, abuse people due to their own personal problems and low self-esteem. They aim to lower other people’s self esteem in order to feel better about themselves.

Image from BBC News

Statistics from the NSPCC website state that in 2016/17 alone there were over 24,000 Childline counselling sessions with regards to bullying. Plus, a staggering 16,000 students skip school everyday due to being bullied. By the time you reach secondary school, 30% of boys and 40% of girls would have talked to their friends or others about bullying.

A student who wishes to be unnamed gave their opinion on bullying. “No-one should go through that, it isn’t nice. If you don’t want anyone treating you badly why would you do it to others?” Most bullies don’t imagine that their victims would be frightened about this, but unfortunately sometimes this is what makes the bully feel empowered.

If you were a parent of the bully and you found out about this what would you do? If you were the parents of the victim and you found out, how would affect you? There are so many questions and answers about this, but there is one that would make you think. What would you do if you were the bully’s friend and you knew this was happening?

It’s very important to not let bullying get out of control. You have to think about the victims and how they might be feeling so that you can help to resolve it.      

If you or someone you know suffers from bullying, make sure you speak out. Teachers, parents and friends are there to help if you let them. For more information go to http://www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/ or contact them on 0845 22 55 787. Don’t suffer in silence.