Horbury School wins prestigious PeerLink Award
2 June, 2009 – Horbury School, Wakefield, has won a prestigious PeerLink Award for tackling bullying among its own pupils and beyond. Year 7, 8 and 9 students have been recognised for their ‘contribution to resolving conflict in school by a group’, thanks to their continued involvement in Beatbullying’s CyberMentors programme.
25 students at Horbury School have been trained by the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, Beatbullying, to become online peer mentors. Known as CyberMentors, the youngsters offer online support to other children and teenagers who are experiencing bullying, including the increasingly common cyber bullying, through mediums such as text messages, emails and phone calls.
CyberMentors was launched on the 3 March, 2009, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and is the first online peer monitoring social networking site run by young people for the benefit of young people. Over 95,000 young people have already accessed the site for help and support since the launch and the programme is actively supported by Joe Calzaghe, Dame Kelly Holmes and number one group N - Dubz. For the first time, young people suffering at the hands of bullies both on and offline can seek immediate help and advice from other young people online at www.cybermentors.org.uk.
Assistant Headteacher Julian Harrison, said: “As a school we take bullying very seriously and are very proud to be part of Beatbullying’s CyberMentors programme. The students at Horbury are gaining a great deal from being part of the scheme and we are thrilled to have won an award recognising our pupil’s efforts in helping their peers.”
The PeerLink Awards celebrate the outstanding contribution young people have made to the prevention of violence and bullying in their local communities. Pupils at Horbury School will celebrate their success at a ceremony in London on 4 June.
Ed Balls, MP for Normanton, congratulated Horbury School saying: “Young people have told me that being bullied by text or email can hurt just as much as being picked on in the playground. Here in Horbury, our young people are working hard to protect and support each other - and stamp out cyberbullying in their school.
"This award shows they are leading the way for other young people across the country. The pupils - and staff - at Horbury School should be really proud of what they have achieved."
Emma Jane Cross, Chief Executive, Beatbullying, commented: “It is fantastic that students at Horbury are volunteering to provide support and guidance to other young people, both locally and across the country, to help them tackle bullying.
“CyberMentors forms a crucial part of our on-going battle to stamp out bullying. Our research shows that over 69% of young people would actively seek advice online from their peers; CyberMentors is the perfect platform to enable them to do this. We are looking forward to working with more schools in Wakefield and across the region to train more young people to help us create a world where bullying is unacceptable.”
- ends -
Notes to editors:
About Beatbullying & CyberMentors.org.uk
Beatbullying is the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity. Founded in 1999, Beatbullying empowers young people to lead anti-bullying campaigns in their schools and local communities, and builds the capacity of local communities to sustain the work. Beatbullying has directly and indirectly worked with 700,000+ young people over the last seven years, assisting and supporting young people that are being bullied, re-educating and changing the behaviour of young people that bully and preventing bullying in schools and communities across the UK. CyberMentors.org.uk is a safe, social networking site providing information and support for young people being bullied or cyber bullied. Young people, aged 11-25, are trained as CyberMentors, in schools and online, so that they can offer support to their peers. Encapsulated by cutting edge technology, it is a safe website where young people can turn to other young people for help and advice. CyberMentors are also supported by trained counsellors, available online if needed. CyberMentors is a Beatbullying project.
About the Leap Confronting Conflict National PeerLink Awards:
The PeerLink Awards give recognition to the fantastic work that individuals and groups are doing in peer mediation, mentoring and training and ensure that youth mediation is recognised nationally. Set up in 2006 to promote and support peer-led mediation and conflict resolution across England, PeerLink emerged from Leap’s existing Young Mediators Network to support young people, projects and schools involved in mediation and conflict resolution across England. It now has a network of over 1,300 young people and a dedicated young staff team working with over 30 young volunteers.
For more information, visit www.cybermentors.org.uk or www.beatbullying.org
Or contact Beatbullying’s Press Office: 0845 338 5073
Frank PR – Louise Porter & Ellie Farrell | louiseporter@frankpr.it | elliefarrell@frankpr.it | |0207 693 6999
Beatbullying - Sherry Adhami | sherry.adhami@beatbullying.org | 0781 400 4963