It’s that time again — Anti-Bullying Week 2019. This year’s theme is: “Change Starts With Us”.
What does this mean? It means we are all responsible and we all have a part to play in combating bullying. Whether this is bullying in schools, workplace bullying or online bullying, we must all examine our own thoughts and beliefs and look at ways we can stop bullying and other unacceptable behaviour.
This year’s theme is an excellent time to examine the role of the bystander in incidents of bullying. Have we witnessed bullying in the past? What did we do about it? Did we take steps to help prevent it, maybe by reporting it to the appropriate authorities as soon as possible? Did we show support for the target of bullying? It takes courage to stand up to bullying as a bystander. Many people are worried about intervening in case the bully turns on them and starts bullying them too. But if nothing is done, the bullying will continue.
We all need the work together and form a united front against bullying. The first step is to talk about bullying — bring it out into the open. And don’t be afraid of challenging unacceptable behaviour.
Anti-Bullying Week is a great opportunity for all of us to take action — we must work together to eradicate bullying and cyberbullying once and for all.
Remember… Change starts with us! #ABW2019