You may feel like you are the only person being bullied, but if you are in a class of 25 students, there are probably 3-5 others in your class who are also being bullied.
You may start to believe that what the bullies say about you is true, or that you somehow deserve the treatment you are getting.
Bullying really has nothing to do with the way you look or behave – it happens because the bully has a problem.
Since it is the bully who has a problem, there isn’t much you can do to change their behaviour, but there are some things you can do to keep yourself safe.
The best thing you can do is to tell an adult who can get the bullying stopped. An adult has the ability to talk to the bully, and also has the power to punish if it doesn’t stop.
Bullies may threaten you that if you tell, things will get worse. They threaten you because they know what they are doing is wrong, and if they get found out they will get into trouble.
The only person who wants the bullying to be a secret is the bully, so why help them?
Often once bullies have been reported and talked to, the bullying stops. If it doesn’t, tell again.
Even though others may see the bullying and not do anything about it, that doesn’t mean they agree with it. They may not know what to do, and they may be afraid that the bully will pick on them.
Sometimes bullying does get worse after you report them, because the adult has not dealt with it well, or the bully hasn’t taken it seriously.
If things have become worse after reporting bullying you need to tell someone right away.
You could write a note to your teacher to say that you need to talk to them when no other kids are around. You could go straight to the Principal, or get a parent to call the school for you. The adults don’t need to tell the bully who reported them. They can just say “we have had a complaint about you bullying (your name).
The adults at school want it to be a safe place for you. But they can’t help if they don’t know about the bullying.