#SticksandStones 10-year-olds reveal they’re being bullied online in the North East
Primary school children tell us they’re targeted by trolls on social media.
Kids as young at 10-years-old tell us they’re being bullied online, as our #SticksandStones campaign gains more support.
Schools across the North East are getting behind Sticks and Stones, calling for compulsory lessons around online bullying in all schools.
We’ve spoken to children across the region, and these school pupils at Whinfield Primary in Darlington say they want to learn how to protect themselves and others.
11-year-old Paige said:
“She was sending pictures around of me and saying things really bad are going to happen… saying why I am looking at this, it’s blinding me and stuff like that.
“It made me feel angry but I didn’t want to show I was upset by it. I didn’t respond to it but this person kept on sending more and more messages.”
Collette Cooper, a teacher at the primary school, said:
“We find generally in education that children, regardless of their age or what the consent forms are for using social media, will use the social media. So it’s about promoting how to use it safely, how to be responsible because it’s still going to be out there at the end of the day.”
Val McFarlane is from Bullying Intervention Group, based in Durham, who deliver this kind of training right across the North East.
She told us told us there will be more tragic consequences if things don't change:
“We’ve heard of a lot of children who are self-harming, who are actually trying to end their lives or have ended their lives because of awful things that are said to them online. The trouble with things that are written down like that is they can read them over and over again.
“I think the s and s campaign is brilliant. I’ve been listening to it myself I think it’s really really good. All schools should have this sort of training for their children and young people.”
Join our Sticks and Stones campaign by signing the petition and keep up to date with the latest by following the hashtag #SticksandStones