Merton tackles sexual bullying
02.04.2008
Young people from the London Borough of Merton, in association with Beatbullying, the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, and Eaves, are launching a new campaign to raise awareness of issues surrounding sexual bullying and grooming.
On Wednesday 2nd April 2008, pupils from Merton schools will showcase their knowledge of sexual bullying and present the resources they have designed to tackle it, including a poster and their own Bebo profile. The roll out event is taking place at The Hub in Morden, from 4.30pm-6pm, where the young people will also show, for the first time, the short film they have created to raise awareness of the problem.
The Merton event is part of Beatbullying’s larger Streetwise campaign, a Comic Relief funded project that is Beatbullying's response to the growing issue of sexual bullying. The Streetwise project explores all inappropriate sexualised behaviour discussed by the young people and then seeks their advice on how to keep themselves and their peers safe from sexual bullying, focusing on healthy, respectful and safe behaviours.
Richard Piggin, Communications Manager at Beatbullying, said:
“Sexual bullying is an often neglected or taboo subject amongst young people. The Streetwise project empowers young people to educate and assist their peers about healthy relationships, their personal safety and how to avoid sexual bullying. The young people of Merton are determined to not only raise awareness of these types of problems faced by young people, but also to tackle and prevent them.”
For the past three months, staff from Beatbullying and Eaves have been working with young people in Merton. In particular, the young people focused on the importance of understanding healthy sexual relationships, their effects, and having full knowledge and control of situations in which they might find themselves. The resources they have produced, devised for young people, contain definitions, scenarios, and most importantly, advice on how to tackle and prevent sexual bullying. They will be distributed across the borough, into libraries, GP surgeries, public information areas, youth groups and schools.
The Bebo page created by the Merton Streetwise panel can be found at www.bebo.com/swo. It contains advice, as well and poems written by the young people, and showcases the short films they produced. Each film focuses on a young person being sexually bullied in a different way, and highlights not only the behaviour that this encompasses, but also the effect it has on the young person and their friends.
The Merton and other Streetwise projects form part of Beatbullying’s ongoing bullying prevention philosophy; that young people themselves through peer to peer channels hold the power to end bullying forever.