Today we are going to begin by speaking to another victim of bullying, who has found the courage to deal with her situation.
Eleven year old Shannon was bullied within school, and also outside of school. I spoke to her earlier about her experiences, and how she has learned that she can help others.
"Hi there Shannon!"
"Hi!"
"thank you so much for talking to us here at TOGETHER. So tell us, How were you bullied?"
"Well, I was cyber-bullied, verbally bullied and physically bullied."
" Gosh, and how did that make you feel?"
"It made me feel sad, and then it just made me feel worthless"
"What exactly is cyber-bullying?"
"Cyber-bullying is when someone leaves rude comments, sends you nasty texts and just mainly being rude on the internet and at first it just changes your life and makes you feel that everyone hates you..."
"Yeah its really not good, and what did you do to deal with the problem?"
"I told the people I trust and tried to ignore it as much as I could."
" Good for you, and did you ever feel like getting your own back on the bullies?"
"Yeah, I thought about it so much but then I just thought well I'm gonna be sinking down to their level, so I didn't want to"
"And did you have any other friends who you could turn to and how did they help?"
" They were just like well just don't worry Shannon you have me and if you want a shoulder to cry on you've got mine"
"Yeah. What do you think makes bullies act the way they do?"
"Most bullies are like, upset and just jealous of the person they pick on.."
"Yeah and how would you encourage them not to bully?"
"They could try talking to someone they trust, not take it out on someone else"
"And what are your main worries about going to secondary school?"
"That It'll just carry on."
"Mm, and do you think that it might?"
"well, it hasn't. It's been OK."
"Now, good for you, 'cause you're a lot stronger from your previous experiences I guess, aren't you?"
" Yeah"
"And did you feel that the cyber-bullying was as bad as the physical bullying?"
"Yeah, like the marks in the physical will go, but the things that are written..."
"Now, I hear that you are a mentor for BEATS BULLYING, so how do you help others who are bullied now?"
"Talk to people that have maybe the same issues as I did or that just have problems..."
"And who exactly can you talk to to help you?"
"Friends, family and teachers."
"Fantastic. Shannon, I think you are so brave, and well done for talking to us today. Thank you very much"
"That's OK. Bye!"
