New anti-bullying campaign backed

As Anti-bullying Week in Wales begins, Welsh Labour’s Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, and Deputy Minister for Children and Social Services, Gwenda Thomas, have backed a new Welsh Government campaign urging children and young people affected by bullying to seek help.

The campaign, which features in adverts on the inside of 900 buses across Wales and is advertised on Facebook targeting children and young people living in Wales, urges those affected by bullying to speak out and seek help from a parent, teacher, friend or by contacting Meic, the National Advocacy and Advice helpline for children and young people in Wales.

Since Meic went 24/7 in January last year, over 10,000 children and young people have contacted the helpline. To ensure the demands for the service continue to be met, the Welsh Labour Government recently announced a further £100,000 of funding for the helpline. Meanwhile, the Welsh Government continues to work with schools and its others partners to tackle bullying in all its forms. In October last year, Respecting Others, a suite of comprehensive anti-bullying guidance which advises on preventing, responding to and recording bullying was launched.

The guidance focuses on five distinct forms of bullying: bullying around race, religion and culture; bullying around special educational needs and disabilities; homophobic bullying; sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying and cyber-bullying.

Schools across Wales are now also able to offer school-based counselling services for those who have been affected by bullying, with the Welsh Government providing £14.25 million of funding from 2011-2014. This universal service is the first of its kind in the UK.