Bullying is something that all of us have had some experience of I am sure. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) defines bullying as:
“Behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group, either physically or emotionally.”

Bullying can take many forms: from teasing and spreading rumours to pushing someone around and causing physical harm. It often happens in front of other people.

It includes name calling, mocking, kicking, taking belongings, writing or drawing offensive graffiti, messing around with people’s belongings, gossipping, excluding people from groups, and threatening others.

Almost half of all children and young people (44%) say that they've been bullied at school, according to the Tellus3 survey, carried out in 2008 by Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) in the UK.

ChildLine, a children’s helpline, reported that they received an average of 2,700 calls a month about bullying between April 2007 and April 2008. This makes bullying the number one reason why children call ChildLine.

The message that we always need to get across is that if you're being bullied, you don't have to put up with it. There are many people and organisations that can help you; you just need to ask. If you’re concerned that your child is being bullied, there is a lot of information on the Net of organisations that can help in our own area.

The burning question is, why are people bullied? The answer is that children and young people are bullied for all sorts of reasons. It can be due to their race, their religion, their appearance, their sexual orientation, because they have a disability or because of their home circumstances. People are bullied for being black, white, fat, clever, gay or red-haired. These are a few examples although people are sometimes picked on for no obvious reason at all. Cyberbullying is increasingly common both inside and outside school.

Cyberbullying is any form of bullying that involves the use of mobile phones or the Internet. For example, sending offensive text messages and emails, circulating degrading images on the Internet, or impersonating someone on social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook. For more information on cyberbullying and how to respond to it, look for help in your area.

There is no doubt that bullying makes the lives of its victims miserable. It undermines their confidence and destroys their sense of security.

Bullying can cause sandess, loneliness, low self-esteem, fear, anxiety and poor concentration, and lead to self-harm, depression, suicidal thoughts and, in some tragic cases, suicide.

Bullying can also affect children and young people's attendance and progress at school.

Help for parents and children is always available adn your school should be the first port of call to see what measures they have in place to deal with this.

Even the police can play a part if the bullying is menacing.