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Bullying isn't confined to the school gates and its victims aren't limited to young people. It also exists at home and in our wider communities. And of course, bullying exists online: The result being a constant, and unrelenting attack. Research shows that bullying can have long-lasting and devastating effects.

Stand Up to Bullying Day (5th July 2016) is a campaign that focuses on childhood bullying as well as bullying in the wider community.

Organised by the Diana Award, the campaign hopes to:

Raise public awareness about bullying and its long term effect.

Create understanding about our collective role in tackling bullying.

Empower the public with the tools to stand up to bullying; wherever they are.

There is still time to get involved, ​You can also watch and share the #StandUpToBullying campaign video which features celebrities, young people and members of the public who have all pledged to #StandUpToBullying.

Make sure to watch out for the official #StandUpToBullying snap chat filter available to users in the UK and Ireland.

You can also download the social media toolkit and create your own #StandUpToBullying Bomerang on Instagram.

"Your support can help shape attitudes and behaviours early on, ensuring no one should have to suffer the devastating effects of bullying, at any point in their life. We hope you join us in any way you can and #StandUpToBullying"

Find out more

All E-safety Support members can download a cyber bullying assembly from their dashboard.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance launch national search for star teachers that go the distance when it comes to tackling bullying

The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), part of leading children’s charity the National Children’s Bureau, have launched their prestigious ‘Power for Good’ award for teachers and school staff as part of this year’s celebrated Anti-Bullying Week. The England-wide search will see children and young people nominate teachers and school staff who go above and beyond the call of duty to support students around issues such as bullying, relationships, family life and mental health.

A wealth of research shows that bullying impacts on children’s ability to learn. ABA want to celebrate teachers that make a very real and lasting difference in children’s lives by taking action against bullying and going the extra mile to make sure every child feels safe, secure and supported.

The award is just one part of an exciting line up for Anti-Bullying Week 2016, which this year runs from the 14th-18th November with the theme Power for Good. As well as the award for teachers, the Anti-Bullying Alliance is calling on students and school staff across England to showcase their creativity and harness their ‘inner Director’ by entering a film -highlighting how important it is to use our Power for Good to stop bullying and create a world we’d all like to live in- with the chance to become the official film of Anti-Bullying Week 2016.

The aims for Anti-Bullying Week 2016, which this year is sponsored by SafeToNet and the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation and delivered in partnership with Internet Matters, are to:

support children and young people to use their Power for Good – by understanding the ways in which they are powerful and encouraging individual and collective action to stop bullying and create the best world possible.

help parents and carers to use their Power for Good – through supporting children with issues relating to bullying and working together with schools to stop bullying.

encourage all teachers, school support staff and youth workers to use their Power for Good – by valuing the difference they can make in a child’s life, and taking individual and collective action to prevent bullying and create safe environments where children can thrive.

Lauren Seager-Smith, National Co-ordinator of the Anti-Bullying Alliance said: ‘Bullying is an abuse of power – whether face to face or online, and this year we want to support the whole community: children, teachers, parents and carers to work together to use their Power for Good to stop bullying wherever and whenever it happens and create safe environments where children can thrive.’

Ben Cohen, founder of the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to be supporting the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) for Anti-Bullying Week 2016. At the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation we echo the ethos of ABA by standing up against bullying regardless of to whom it happens. We know that people who are bullied feel disconnected, leading to a sense of isolation and loneliness, a wariness of others and a lack of quality friendships. The Power for Good campaign aims to bring the whole community together to combat these issues, empowering everyone to take a stand against bullying whether it’s taking place in school, the community or online.’

Carolyn Bunting, General Manager of Internet Matters said: ‘It's essential to recognise that bullying online can be just as hurtful and traumatic to a child as bullying offline. Whether online or in the school playground, bullying can have detrimental effects on a child’s ability to learn and communicate. What one child might consider harmless fun, might be another’s trauma and it can often be difficult for a child to talk about.’

‘Internet Matters is pleased to be supporting the Anti-Bullying Alliance this year to help children recognise when they are victims of online bullying and what to do about it, as well as spreading the message that cyberbullying should not be tolerated. We believe the internet is a force for good so it's vital children are able to feel safe while they are using it. That is why we are backing The Power for Good campaign to recognise teachers and students who have taken a stand against bullying.’

Georgie Pursey, Co Founder of SafeToNet said: ‘We are delighted to be supporting Anti-Bullying Week 2016 and excited to work alongside the Anti-Bullying Alliance to raise awareness for this incredible cause, not just in November but for every week of the year. Bullying, whether it be in the playground, office or online is unacceptable and a change needs to happen. SafeToNet intends to use its Power For Good to proactively prevent bullying, and encourage reflection and compassion when interacting online.’

About the Power for Good Award

All nominated teachers and school staff will receive a Power for Good certificate. A panel of children and young people from YoungNCB will choose one nomination from Primary and one nomination from Secondary to win our 'Champion of the Year' award. All you have to do is download the word document form here, fill it in, ask your Headteacher/or Assistant Headteacher to sign the form and send back. You can post the application form to ABA, NCB, 8 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7QE or email aba@ncb.org.uk . The winners will be announced in Anti-Bullying Week 2016 and the deadline is 5pm on Friday 30th September 2016.

About the film competition

We know what incredible film makers our students and teachers are, and the ABA need your help to make the official film for Anti-Bullying Week 2016. Last year's film had over 65,000 views on YouTube. Please note this competition is only open to schools in England.

To enter the competition pupils are invited to send a film where they share how important it is to use our Power for Good to stop bullying and create the best world possible. This could be in the form of a story, animation, song, poem, rap, musical piece - the more creative, the better. The video clip should be no more than 2 minutes long – and doesn’t have to be filmed professionally – it can even be filmed on a phone. It's important to remember that both primary and secondary schools may view the videos so please make sure the content is suitable for all ages.

All entrants should include the official Anti-Bullying Week logo as part of the film, and if you want to reference hashtags please use #antibullyingweek and/or #powerforgood.

The competition closes at 5pm on Sunday 31st July. Find out more

Why e-safety education must begin at home

The news has once again reminded us about the dangers children face online, with a recent report from the NSPCC suggesting that toddlers as young as one are now being targeted by online predators.

With 35% of 5-15 year olds now owning a smartphone (up from 18% in 2010) and 40% of the same age group and indeed now 15% of 3-4 year olds owning a tablet, access to the Internet from portable devices is easier than ever.

However, figures from the Ofcom, Children and parents: media use and attitudes report, state that as many a 73% of 5-15 year olds are using a tablet at home.

It’s clear from the figures above that there is a large number of children who don’t own a tablet but do use one at home. So let’s consider this in the context of parental controls.

When a parents gives a child a new media device, they are advised to set parent controls, privacy setting etc to protect their children. But what do they do with their own devices? The figures suggest that some 33% of young people are using a tablet at home which have perhaps not been set up for the child, but rather the adult and therefore not necessarily as well protected.

As if to illustrate why this may be an issue, a concerned mum recently advised that their 9 year old daughter had returned from a visit to a friend where they had been watching inappropriate content that they had found on the Internet while using the parents tablet. The parent had some understanding of parental controls, but had not implemented them on their own tablet properly.

In this case, the parent had a level of appreciation about the online safety of their child, but this is not always the case. During our recent e-safety seminar, the difficulties of engaging parents was one of the key concerns raised. In several cases, school events for parents were held with only one, two or three parents attending. Even when the events were held at drop-off and pick-up time, still attendance was poor.

As the summer break approaches, it is crucial that parents are made aware of their responsibility to protect their child online, be that while gaming, using the Internet, texting, emailing and so on.

To help engage parents, here are 3 tips that were discussed by teachers at the e-safety seminar:

1. Carry out surveys and share finding with parents - Ask pupils which apps they are using, have they witnessed cyberbullying, do they understand the implications of sexting etc and share these findings with parents to illustrate issues within your school setting.


2. Share video links with parents - If you show pupils an e-safety video in school, send this to the parents and ask them to watch it too to help reinforce the message. There are lots of great videos from NPSCC, CEOP, Think You Know etc


3. Send news headlines and web links to parents - Allow them to digest the information in their own time. Drip feed information regularly to ensure that they are constantly reminded about online safety. All E-safety Support members can add the ‘News Widget’ to their school website.

If we are to accept that children as young as one are now being targeted online, it has never been more important to have parents understand that e-safety education must begin at home.

If you have any tips on engaging parents, or would like to share your experience with other readers, please email news@e-safetysupport.com.

If you would like further support on engaging parents, E-safety Support members can assess a bank of parental engagement resources including an online parent training course which can be issued via email and allows parents to take the course at a time to suit them.