What's being done to stop bullying?

Kids are skipping school to get away from bullies, says a charity

Every day, up to 20,000 kids are missing lessons because they are avoiding bullies.

Have you skipped school because of bullying?

Perhaps your school has a special system to make it easy for you to tell someone if you are being bullied?

Maybe it asks older pupils to look after the younger ones?

Have you got any ideas about how bullies can be stopped?

Unfortunately this topic is now closed but there are Comments pages on other subjects on the main Chat index.

Your Comments

Teachers have to take more control. Bullying could be VERY dangerous and teachers need to take a little more responsibility.

Liv, 11, USA

I contemplated skipping lessons, but decided I would rather face them than give them the satisfaction of knowing they got to me. When I started getting better grades, because I just held my head high they left me alone, now I feel great.

Steph, 13, Stirling

When I was at primary school I got bullied by a girl and the teachers promised that when I went to secondary school I wouldn't be in any lessons with her. But here I am in Year Seven in EVERY lesson with her.

Carly, 11, Ryton

In our school we have supportive friends which are older students in Year 10. I've never been bullied, just picked on. But I told someone and the nasty girl was told about it.

Sarah, 11, Ryton

The teachers in my school just ignore bullying and they don't do anything to help.

Rachel, 10, Blackboys

If enough was being done to stop bullying, then it wouldn't still be happening. Teachers don't really do enough.

Matthew, 9, Chester

In our school we talk about our problems and a teacher sorts them out. We even have a 'bully box' and a 'praise box'. At the end of an term the bullies get spoken to!

Melody, 10, Brent

I got bullied for two years at my school, NOTHING was done about it. I was just told to ignore it and not to look at them. My life got harder and I took days off school because I was scared.

Sarah, 13, Birmingham

I got bullied at my primary school. Nothing was done about it - even when I told my teacher about it five times! She said she would sort it out but she never did.

Sarah, 13, Birmingham

I think that teachers don't do enough. When I used to get bullied it was my mum who helped me.

Freya, 10, Caerphilly

In my school if we are being bullied or have any problems we have Peer Pals who we can talk to.

Hannah, 13, Norfolk

In our school they do big assemblies about bullying but whenever somebody does get bullied they say just ignore it!

Lewey, 10, Birmingham

In our school, we have buddies which are people who can be approached if you are being bullied and they will help you sort out the problem.

Jameel, 11, Pinner

In my school we have a guidance office where we can go if we're being bullied and if anyone starts a fight they could even get excluded.

Josh, 12, Great Kirkcudbright

In my school we wear anti-bullying wrist bands. I once got bullied and my school sorted it out but when my bother got bullied they didn't care!

Amy, 12, Sherburne

We have a body called ABC and it works most of the time because the teachers and staff are so nice!

Vikky, 11, Great Barford

In my school nothing is being done. I think they should put the bullies in a different class.

Emily, 13, Durham

Monitors and teachers have helped stop bullying in my school. And so there's not much bullying now.

Sangeeta, 11, Glasgow

In our school, we have some counsellors, who listen to us and help solve problems with bullying.

Holly, 8, Winnersh

In our school we have playground buddies and house captains to sort out bullying problems

Shannon & Megan, 10 & 11, Birmingham

The teachers always say that we should tell them when bullying takes place, but when it comes to it they don't do much apart from 'having a little chat' and saying 'it'll work out'. It never does!

Harriet, 13, Sheffield

I think telling someone that you're being bullied is a really important.

Jessica, 13, Harlow

I think there are more bullies in schools than ever before. Kids are getting bullied every day and because of bullying they miss school and harming their education.

Sapna, 12, London

Bullying can really hurt, I used to get bullied but the people that helped me were very good.

James, 9, East Herringthorpe

I have never been bullied but I think it should be stopped.

Molly, 13, Tooting

Nothing ever gets done about bullying in my school. It's like they don't care and if someone does tell them, they still don't do enough. And when the bullies get told off they only get more angry.

Kelly, 12, Lanark

I hated going to school when I was being bullied but now that my teachers know about it I feel safer and happier.

Tori, 10, Leicester

My school has a group called FAB, which means friends against bullying. They talk about different problems, make posters and decided how to stop it.

Rachel, 12, Glasgow

My school doesn't do anything until the problem is really out of hand. Thankfully no one in my school bullies me.

Eleanor, 11, Ireland

When I was bullied it was sorted out, but I think that it was partly because we were friends before. I don't really think my teachers did a good job though!

Esme, 12, Acton

Me, me friend and 2 teachers are organising an anti-bullying club in our school.

Laura, 13, Carluke

I was bullied and I told my teacher. I used to dread going to school but now I love it.

Nasima, 13, London

At my school we have a mentoring service, aka buddies, and you can talk to them and they can help you out if you're worried.

Raychel, 11, Slough

My school set up a school council and if you're being bullied or have a problem you can go to a council member to help you.

Amy, 11, N. Ireland

My school has silly friendship meetings that do not work at all.

Tash, 10, Wigan

In my school lots of kids get bullied and I don't think the school cares!

Aneta, 10, London

Our school has an anti-bullying group called FAB which means friends-against-bullying. Together, we tackle bullying.

Dee, 13, Derby

I don't think schools are doing enough to stop bullying.

Katy, 11, Ipswich

I got bullied when I moved to a different school. My teacher wasn't at all helpful, even if the bullying went on under her nose - she blamed me and even make excuses for the bully! Thankfully I moved away and am so much happier but my old school was useless!

Nicola, 14, Norwich

In my school we have an anti-bullying committee that you can go to if you are getting bullied and there's prefects who you can tell.

Sophie, 12, Essex

My school doesn't really do anything until the problem is so out of hand that the child is afraid to go to school and even then they don't do much.

Eleanor, 11, Ireland

I got bullied in primary school and then the bully left but now she's back at my high school and she had started bulling me again! But I told my mum and she came in and told the teachers and I got moved to a different class.

Megan, 12, Markethill

We have a school bullying policy and there are different stages to this but in my year bullying isn't a problem as we all get on perfectly well together!

Tiffi, 14, Cambridge

My school has a council and they meet every Thursday. They help people with bullying problems.

Izi, 10, Southampton

In our school we all have a mentor who is five years older than us and who's there to help us. We also have a school counsellor.

Rhiannon, 12, Belfast

At my school we have Bully Busters and every day we have four people on duty. Their role is to walk around the playground and see if pupils are being bullied.

Tara, 13, Brighton

In my school some of the pupils who had been bullied in the past, have set up this group called the 'Samaritans'. We can go up to them, report thing and they won't do anything you don't want them to do. I think it's really good!

Emma, 12, Edinburgh

Our school has opened a mentoring service where you can tell them things in confidence and it's really good help.

Steph, 13, Preston

I've been bullied for seven years and in the end I left school. I only ever tried to attack the bully once, but I came back worse with a crack in the skull. Nothing was done about it. The bully is still in the school!

M, 13, Manchester

You should learn self defence to stand up to the bullies - that's what I did!

Samuel, 11, Abbeywood

Our school has a system where you can send an email to the school and they will read it and deal with the situation.

Andrew, 12, Sheffield

Our school has a 'no blame' policy which means that they don't immediately jump to conclusions about bullying cases, but it's rarely effective because most people think it's weak to tell a teacher about your problems.

Abigail, 13, Surrey

I'm getting bullied and nothing appears to be done. Teachers just say it is being monitored.

Ashley, 10, Whitchurch

I was bullied for nine years and no one bothered to stop it. I kept telling my family and teachers but nothing was done to stop it. So I think my old school is a school full of bullies.

Samantha, 11, Ashford

We have a mentor who talks to people and sort problems out.

Amy, 11, Wolverhampton

We have something called CHIPS. It's where students are trained to help other pupils that have been bullied.

Ellie, 13, Leeds

My school say they take immediate action on bullying but my friend got bullied and the bully just got a warning. I think they are too blind to see how many people are actually getting bullied.

Khyati, 13, Greenford

I think our school is not very good in dealing with bullying. You just tell a teacher, they then have a word with the bullies, then nothing else. Most people end up getting bullied again.

Rhiannon, 14, Derbyshire

My school is not doing much about bullying. They just talk to the bullies and give them a 10 minutes detention. I don't think this stops the bullies from bullying again!

Maryam, 11, London

Our school has an 'Am I Bovverd?!' box where children who are getting bullied can write down what's happening. Our learning mentor can then help to sort it out.

Class M3, 10, Abbey Wood

The best thing to stop the bullies is to learn some kind of self defence!

David, 12, Manchester

I do Karate which teaches me about self defence and I'm now not scared of bullies.

Jordan, 10, Cardiff

I hate bullies and I think they're only jealous, so they have to bully to get what they want!

Jolie, 13, Folkestone

Our school believes that no one is weak, ugly, or anything negative. We look out and we have discussions about bullying and try to stop it.

Kia, 13, Australia

Nothing is being done in my school. This is probably because there are no serious cases of bullying in my school.

Osnat, 10, London

My school has buddies which are trained to help out with minor problems. I'm one of them.

Connor, 9, Pontefract

In our school we have got a buddy bench and if you are unhappy you go and sit on the buddy bench and some one will come and play with you. We also have a worry box and if we have a worry we drop a note there which the teachers read at the end of the week.

Joshua, 9, Knaresborough

I have been bullied by the same girl for a long time. I am now in Year 4 and the way the school is helping me is by making us work together in class and also by making me her partner when we are on school trips.

Sophie, 8, London

Bulling starts with silly games with a bit of violence. So in my school these kind of games are all banned!

Gari, 11, Westbury

Games and fall-outs can start bullying even sports like footie on the field. Some of our games have been banned because of fighting.

Francesca, 10, Westbury

In our school if you are being bullied you can e-mail a special buddy hotline or call the buddy phoneline.

Danny, 12, Newcastle

At my school we have a mentoring system where we look out for younger pupils who have been bullied in the past.

Johnny, 10, Hayes