What is bullying? Bullying involves using words or actions to intentionally hurt or upset someone. It can be physical, like pushing or hitting, or verbal, like name-calling. People who are bullied often feel powerless to stop what’s happening to them. Bullying can include all of these things: Name calling and teasing Taunting Mocking Saying mean things in person or online. …
Cyber-bullying
What is it? Cyberbullying is a type of bullying which can involve the victim being harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted via the internet, social media or by mobile phone. Some children and young people believe that cyberbullying is not as serious as other forms of bullying, but that is not true. What can cyberbullying involve? Virtual mobbing or dog-piling: …
Online grooming
Introduction Chatting online is a useful and easy way to keep in touch with your friends. But it’s really important to remember that talking to people you don’t know, or haven’t met in real life, can be dangerous. What is grooming? Online grooming is when someone (the groomer) uses the internet to make friends with you and gain your trust. …
Online pornography
What is it? Online pornography (porn) can be text, an image or a video that is sexually explicit. For example, this could include a photo of someone naked or a video of people having sex. It is perfectly natural to be curious about sex and relationships. However, it’s a topic that many people feel uncomfortable discussing with an adult. Watching …
Rape and other forms of abuse
Rape The definition of rape was changed by law on 1 May 2004. What was previously known as ‘rape’ has been replaced by the criminal offence of ‘sexual assault by penetration’. Sexual assault by penetration It is against the law for someone, male or female, intentionally to penetrate the vagina or anus of another person with a part of their …
Self-harm
What is self harm? Self-harm is where you hurt or injure yourself on purpose, for example: cutting yourself taking overdoses of tablets or medicines not eating enough scratching your skin to cause sores and scarring. After self-harming, you might feel a short-term sense of relief or control. This can make it easier to rely on and harder to stop. Why …
Sexting
What is sexting? Sexting is a term used for sending or receiving of sexual, naked or semi-naked images or videos which can be taken by a young person of themselves (selfie), or by others. Examples include: naked pictures pictures of genitals sex acts including masturbation sexual pictures in underwear Sexting can be done on anything that lets you share media …
Smacking
What is smacking? Smacking is hitting a child with an open hand, usually as a way to punish or discipline them. Can a teacher smack you? It is against the law for your teacher to ever hit you. Can a parent smack you? It is against the law for your parent or carer to smack you unless this is ‘reasonable …