We should ask our young people what to do about bullying
On the National Day Against Bullying and Violence, it is a good day to talk about bullying. We should really reflect on how to tackle this issue by first talking to children and young people about what we need to do. This is also a good time to share what I’m doing in response to the many requests I’ve had to ‘do something’ about bullying. In my sessions across the State last year I heard overwhelmingly that children and young people are really concerned about the impact of bullying.
It was raised by many young people in alternative education programs, as well as LGBTQI young people and those with mental health issues, as a significant reason why they were not attending mainstream schooling. Many experts have ideas about how to tackle the issue and identify the solutions, but after speaking with children and young people directly they want to offer a new lens to look through. This paradigm shift of actively engaging children and young people on issues directly impacting them is the missing piece.
For children and young people it appears to be getting worse. They are telling me the current solutions are not working. From their perspective, they are expected to rely too much on identifying a problem and reporting it to an adult. Children and young people consider that preventative strategies, such as peers being available to help in the schoolyard, would work better.
Many children and young people spoke to me about the need to work with bullies, to show them kindness, and show them how it feels to be powerful through behaviour other than bullying. They spoke about the need to understand why bullies act as they do and the need for schools to work with them, not push them further away. They were clear that bullies and the bullied are not mutually exclusive groups. Often those who are bullied also bully. What has been missing from the community discussion are the voices of those children and young people who experience the complexity of bullying in its many forms.
Over the next few months I will undertake a series of focused consultations, asking children and young people aged 11–18 what they think should be done. I will ask how best to address bullying in schools, online and in the community.
The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence wants us all to imagine a world free of bulling. More than just imagining, I would love it if the children and young people I speak to could actually live in such a world.
Helen Connolly, Commissioner for Children and Young People SA.
