Anti-bullying Policy
1. Aims of the Policy
Forging Future is committed to creating an atmosphere within all our activities/ services for children and young people that explicitly acknowledges that any bullying is unacceptable.
All workers/staff/volunteers will be aware of all procedures to prevent and/or respond to observed or reported bullying.
Where adult to child bullying is suspected, observed or reported it must be managed as a concern about an adult’s behavior within safeguarding procedures.
All staff, trustees, volunteers, children and young people and parents/carers should understand what bullying is.
All children and young people and parents should know what the organisation policy is on bullying and what they should do if bullying arises.
As an organisation we take bullying seriously. Children and young people and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported, and that bullying will not be tolerated at (org name).
This Policy statement has been agreed by the Management of A2change and is mandatory for all activities/services supporting children and children and young people.
This Policy
· Centre standards and the following Organisation/group policies:
· Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
· Code of conduct for youth workers
· Comments, Compliments and Complaints procedures
· Health and Safety Policy
2. Bullying – our definition
Bullying is deliberate, offensive, intimidating, malicious, abusive or insulting behavior which makes the individual feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable.
Bullying can be:
•emotional – being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g., taking another’s belongings, threatening gestures, abusive notes or graffiti)
•physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence
•racist – racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
•sexual – unwanted physical contact or sexually, abusive comments
•homophobic – because of, or focusing on the issue of sexuality
•discriminatory – about disability, gender, age or other differences
•verbal – name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumors, teasing
•cyber – all areas of internet, such as email and internet chat room misuse
•mobile - threats by text messaging and calls
•misuse of associated technology i.e., camera and video facilities.
Signs and Symptoms
A child or young person may indicate by signs of behavior that he or she is being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and that they should investigate if a child;
• Is frightened walking to and from center
• Begs to be accompanied always.
• Changes their usual routine
• Becomes withdrawn, anxious or lacking in confidence
• Starts stammering
• Attempts or threatens suicide
• Runs away
• Cries themselves to sleep at night or have nightmares
• Has unexplained cuts or bruises
• Becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable
• Stops eating
• Is frightened to say what’s wrong
• Starts bullying other children and young people
• Is nervous or jumpy when a text message is received
Theses signs are not exhaustive and could indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and should be investigated.
Cyber Bullying
Cyber bullying is the term used to define bullying behavior via mobile phone or over the internet through emails, instant messaging and social network sites. Texts, messages or images are sent or posted on sites which hurt, intimidate or embarrass another person.
Cyber bullying has been covered in a separate section (see appendix 1a – Bullying guidance for youth activities) with the aim of embedding it into this policy once awareness has been sufficiently raised.
3. Reporting and recording Bullying
Suggested procedure for dealing with allegations of bullying
* Investigations should ensure that all parties are involved – victim, alleged perpetrator, bystanders etc.
** Where appropriate parent / carer and child / young person are made aware of their right to report incident to the police
4. Responding to Bullying
Bullying can frequently be underestimated. It can cause considerable distress to children, to the extent that it affects their health and development or, at the extreme, cause them significant harm (including self-harm). We will respond to all bullying incidents following the procedures outlined above, and will ensure that;
1. Children and young people are aware they can report bullying incidents to staff.
2. In cases of serious bullying, the incidents will be recorded by staff.
3. In serious cases parents / carers should be informed and will be asked to come in to a meeting to discuss the problem.
4. If necessary and appropriate, police will be consulted.
5. The bullying behavior or threats of bullying must be investigated and the bullying stopped quickly.
6. An attempt will be made to help the bully(bullies) change their behavior.
5. Roles and Responsibilities of all staff, children and young people, parents / carers, trustees / management committee members in implementing this policy
Staff will encourage children to reduce incidences of the above behaviors by:
•role modeling acceptable behavior
•teaching appropriate methods of communication
•offering motivation for the individual to work with others
•building tolerance of group situations
•offering rewards for appropriate behavior
•developing appropriate assertiveness skills
•ensuring each child is aware of the complaints procedure and how to access support
•having adults or peer mentors who are someone to turn to, and can be trusted to act
•considering environmental or programme changes.
Any child who has been subjected to bullying-type behavior will be supported, and staff will undertake a risk assessment to ensure that the victim, other children and the perpetrator are kept safe.
6. Strategies for prevention of bullying
Prevention - We will seek to prevent bullying by;
• Developing a code of behavior or writing a set of group rules that sets out the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ in terms of how everyone involved is expected to behave.
• Developing a comments, compliments and complaints procedure
•writing stories or poems or drawing pictures about bullying
•reading stories about bullying or having them read to a group
•making up role-plays
•having discussions about bullying and why it matters.
Outcomes of bullying
1. The bully (bullies) may be asked to genuinely apologies. Other consequences may take place.
2. In serious cases, suspension or even exclusion from the group will be considered.
3. If possible, the children and young people will be reconciled.
4. After the incident/incidents have been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place.
7. Monitoring and evaluating the policy
The Centre manager is responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Policy and Guidelines via staff observations and feedback and consultation with children and their parents/legal guardians and colleagues.
This policy will be reviewed on 1/08/2025
Signature David Downs Director Action 2 change