Violence amongst children

Bullying happens when one or more children repeatedly and deliberately harass, attack, or hurt, or exclude another child from games or activities. This type of violence commonly takes the form of threats, bodily injury, rejection, teasing, gossiping, taking and/or destroying another child’s things, as well as unpleasant comments about the child or their family and relatives (eg; “John doesn’t have a dad!”,

or “Your mom is fat!”).

If you’re experiencing problems at school where someone is challenging you, taunting you, taking your things, calling you names… there are lots of things you can do to protect yourself.

• Do not think that it just happens to you, bullying is something that happens to many children all around the world.
• Do not think that you deserve to be bullied for any reason – you should not feel ashamed, it is bullies who should have problems and should feel ashamed
• Be firm and clear – look the bully in the eye and tell them STOP!
• You may not be able to change the bully´s behavior by yourself, but you can tell an adult you trust so that the bully can be punished (sometimes bullies will threaten you if you tell someone, but this is because they know that if tell they’ll get in trouble)
• Keep talking to people until someone takes responsibility for it.
• Do not use violence against the bully/abuser
• Get help – is better to not have to face the bully by yourself
• If you know of any cases of violence, tell a parent, teacher, psychologist, etc.

If someone is making fun of you, just tell them “yeah, whatever, I’m not really interested in what you have to say”, and show them that their comments are not worth your trouble, time, or attention. Socialize with as many people as you can so that you have friends. In order to make friends, it is important to be polite, talk to people and listen to them. Get support from your parents or any other adults you trust, as it is important you share with them your problems and any anxiety you have. Do not avoid school because this only postpones the problem and you will end up falling behind in work and missing out on learning. Do not be shy to ask for help!

Often brothers, sisters, and friends will know of cases of bullying and violence long before parents and teachers, however, they will sometimes not respond or react because the victim asked them not to, out of fear that something will happen to either them or the person helping them. It is important to remember to speak up because this is the only way bullying and violence will stop.

If you are experiencing cases of violence or bullying, make sure to seek help from an adult or responsible person that you trust (parents, teachers, etc.) and/or call the Brave Phone number at 116-111.