Bullying: ‘They’d spit at me and

film it’

"They'd spit at me, take my glasses off and record it, thinking it was funny then send it round
different group chats or post it on their Snapchat stories."

This is Abigail's story - she's a 17-year-old college student from Manchester, who dreams of
becoming a primary school teacher. She was bullied throughout secondary school and says
she had to move several times to escape. A survey by youth charity Ditch the Label suggests
a quarter of 12-18 year olds in the UK have been bullied. They noted an increase of videos of
young people being attacked appearing online, so asked respondents whether they would
share them. Nearly half of the 13,000 people surveyed said they wouldn't. "There's been a
few times I was attacked. Once, I was on my lunch break and being followed around the
courtyard," Abigail says. "A girl grabbed me and pulled my hair and there was a girl
recording it and it got to the point where I was dragged to the floor and kicked, basically I
was jumped." The survey also asked young people why they thought they were being bullied
- with half saying it was because of their looks. "It was very much about my weight, the fact I
had a gap in my teeth and my chin," Abigail says. "Since then I've lost a lot of weight and got
braces so I don't have a gap, it's made me change the way I look. "It's just not very nice when
someone's calling you out because of the way you look, it hits home a bit more for me." The
research, which was completed by February 2020, didn't include the coronavirus lockdowns.
It found the amount of victims had increased by 25% compared to 2019, with a quarter of
those bullied saying they'd received physical or online attacks.
Advice from NSPCC if you're being bullied:

 Find a trusted adult to go to whether you're being bullied online or in person - could
be a teacher or parent
 Don't take on bullies alone or retaliate, it might get you in trouble
 Avoid situations of conflict by staying with friends and not travelling alone
 Report people who are abusing you on social media and take time away if it's
affecting you
 Look after your mental health - go outside, read a book, listen to music or meet up
with a friend.

Warmup questions (Before you read the article):

Have you ever witnessed or experienced bullying? How did it make you feel?

Do you know someone who has been bullied? How did you or others react?

After reading:

What kinds of bullying did Abigail experience?

How did Abigail say the bullies would share videos of her being bullied?

What does Abigail think caused her to be bullied?

Discuss with a partner:

Why do you think some people bully others?