• Question: How can you stop people bullying you without telling adults?

    Asked by bobo to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Bullying is a very difficult thing to deal with, isn’t it? Are you having problems with bullying yourself? I’m afraid I don’t really have any good advice. But it’s important to remember that bullies really are all cowards; they bully others to make themselves feel better and have a feeling of power. So if at all possible you have to try not to let it get to you. And if it’s really bad, perhaps telling an adult that you know and trust would be a good idea.
      Sorry I don’t really have anything very helpful to say about this, but take a look at this website, it might have some good information on it:
      http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      That’s a very tough question, and I can’t imagine that any of us scientists are qualified to tell you the right answer. The best advice I can give is to have a look at the websites below, where people who specialise in dealing with bullying may be able to help you out:

      http://www.bullying.co.uk/index.php/component/option,com_jumi/Itemid,191/fileid,4/
      http://www.childline.org.uk/explore/bullying/pages/bullying.aspx
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_1570000/newsid_1579300/1579385.stm
      http://beatbullying.org/dox/help/help.html

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      It can be really tough to deal with bullying. I wasn’t really bullied much at school, but I did sometimes do things that weren’t very clever to avoid being bullied.

      If you know someone that is being bullied you could tell them about the Bullying UK website (www.bullying.co.uk) which has lots of advice on it. There are also CyberMentors (http://cybermentors.org.uk) who are people your own age who can help and anyone can phone childline for free (0800 1111) to talk to an adult about any problems they are having without having to give their name.

      Bullying can be really horrible and really needs to stop! The good news is that school is the worst time for bullying and people who are bullied at school often have great lives with loads of fantastic friends when they are adults.

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      As difficult as it can sound, bullies are very insecure people that need to let it out on people that somehow they are afraid of (at schools is often people that are good that are victims of bullies). The more a victim shows that he/she is affected by the behaviour of the bully, the better it is for the bully, because they feel that they have power. That’s why I think that indifference would be the best weapon against the bully. Unfortunately, this is not very easy, but it would be helpful also to share the experience with some close friends, if you want to avoid talking to adults. However, keep in mind that talking to adults could be very useful.

      You can find some good advices on these websites:
      http://www.teenissues.co.uk/HowToStopBullyingByOtherPupils.html
      http://www.need2know.co.uk/beatbullying/index.html
      http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/are-you-being-bullied.aspx

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      I can’t really help you here without knowing the situation. You really should speak to a teacher or a parent, and they will be able to help you think through your particular situation. If you really can’t face speaking to an adult you know, then there are helplines you can phone up for free, and speak to someone anonymously.

Comments