Keep safe

Try to stay away from bullies or stay with a group of other pupils or friends when you don't feel safe. Ask your friends or someone you can trust to look out for you. Try not to fight back. Fighting back could get you into trouble or you could get hurt.

The organisation, Kidscape, suggests the following ways to deal with one bully or more than one bully, if you can't get away from them immediately. For example:

• With a friend or someone in your family practise 'fogging'. This means having an answer to a taunt or something nasty a bully may say to you. For example:
  
  Bully: 'Your shoes are horrible.'
  You: 'That's your opinion.' or 'They are comfortable.'
  
• Practise having answers to things that a bully may say to you, and perhaps write these answers down. The bully may say things about how your look, your family or things you like to do. For example:
  ...this is what I will say when the bully says something about how I look.
  ...this is what I will say when the bully says something about my family.
  
• Having to deal with a bully or bullies is scary for everyone. It's OK to feel scared. It is important to recognise that you are scared and to get away from the bullying. You may find it difficult to recognise emotions like fear, so you could ask an adult or a friend to spend some time teaching you more about different feelings and what to do when you experience them.
  
• You could also ask an adult or friend to help you understand body language and eye contact - your own body language and that of the bully.
  
• Kidscape also suggest that you practice saying 'No!' to the bully, firmly and loudly.
  

Kidscape has a 'Keepsafe code', which has more ideas about how you can protect yourself from bullies. Go to www.kidscape.org.uk/childrenteens/keepsafe.shtml for advice about protecting yourself.

See also www.kidscape.org.uk/childrenteens/defence.shtml for advice about strategies to help you get away from bullies.

Go to safe places

Try and stay in a group, rather than being on your own. When you are not at school, your local public library, community centre or leisure centre are places you could try because they are usually places with lots of other people in them.

The places you go to don't have to be places you know or places where the adults in them know you. The important thing to remember is that by going into places such as your local library, you are no longer alone and can ask an adult for help.

Stay safe on the internet

You may get unwanted and nasty emails, texts or have something written about you on a website. This is called cyberbullying. When you are on the internet, you need to follow some rules to make your time on the internet or in a chatroom as safe as possible.

See the Kidscape website for advice on how to stay safe on the internet.

See also www.cybermentors.org.uk where you can get help on how to deal with cyberbullying.