The Real Faces of Bullying?

Bullying is something everyone knows about because it’s an issue which involves everyone, and that can be through being a victim, a bystander or the bully themselves. It’s a negative situation – no-one wants to be any of those people, right? – but it’s always possible to stop bullying, even though sometimes it’s really difficult to see how.

That’s why Bel Mehta, an illustrator and artist, is coming through with a project that defines, then redefines, those three main roles. Bel knows that just because there’s pressure on the victim to find help, that doesn’t mean that other people can’t look at the situation and figure out how they can stop bullying at school too. She’s been listening to people with real experience of bullying, learning how it feels and realising it doesn’t stop at school – not when cyber bullying can follow people 24/7 wherever they are. So people, we’re asking you to have some wider sympathy here because the thing is, there are also pressures on bullies and bystanders too! Bystanders have it tough because no-one wants to be seen as a grass or become a victim themselves, and it takes serious guts to speak out. And bullies – they’re often victims themselves and are just taking their anger out on others – so they actually have double the pressure!

Basically, no-one’s winning here. So if you need to know how to stop bullying – no matter where you’re coming from – just take an opportunity to look at your own picture and change what you see.