Resources to help you celebrate Anti-Bullying Week 2022

Anti-Bullying Week, organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, commences on the 15^th November up  until the 19^th. It is a hugely successful annual awareness campaign which has reached millions of young people. This year’s theme is ‘One Kind Word’.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance’s research has shown that one child in every classroom experiences bullying every day, whilst 17% of young people overall have been bullied online.

The promotion of kindness is at the core of our values at Childnet, and it is essential that we put a stop to bullying whether online or offline. Whether you’re an education professional, parent, or carer, Childnet have a host of resources you can use to hand the torch of kindness to young people this Anti-Bullying Week.

You can play your part in spreading kindness by utilising and sharing Childnet’s resources to combat bullying and hate online.

You can read the Digiduck collection with children aged 3-7, following him on his exciting adventures which address themes of friendship, responsibility and critical thinking online.

Digiduck’s Big Decision, the first in the series, sees Digiduck learn about kindness and responsibility online, which would be great for 3-7s to read this Anti-Bullying week.

Also, on our website, children aged 6-9 years old can find out how to ‘Get SMART with a heart’ with the help of an adult and follow our top tips for using the internet safely and positively. There are some really engaging video lessons and quizzes to help deliver our key online safety messages.

If you are somebody between the age of 11 and 18, you can access our Childnet Hub to help you in spreading kindness this Anti-Bullying Week and beyond!

You can find out how to improve the digital wellbeing of yourself and others; a problem shared is a problem halved, whether you are telling someone about a negative experience you had online, or asking somebody how they feel after their own experience. It all starts with “One Kind Word” like ‘Hello!’

As well as sharing the above resources with young people, teachers and professionals can check out Childnet’s various projects to help disseminate kindness online and combat bullying.

For children aged 9-12, you can use our “Just a Joke?” toolkit, a range of resources to help you explore problematic online sexual behaviour with 9-12s, including:

Crossing the Line is a practical online safety PSHE toolkit with films and lesson plans to explore online issues with pupils aged 11-14 years old. It contains specific lessons and films on cyberbullying with an LGBT focus. Through the toolkit activities students will define cyberbullying and recognise examples of it; exploring when actions have crossed the line. In addition to this there is clear signposting to advice and support on how to respond to and deal with issues of cyberbullying.

Also in keeping with the theme is “Talk it over”, our research-led resource designed to support you as an educator in facilitating empathetic, honest, and evidence-based conversations on online hate and how to tackle it with secondary aged pupils.

Have you checked out our Parent and Carer Toolkit? Childnet have plenty of materials to help you instigate conversation with your child about maintaining a positive and enjoyable online experience.

Our “Let’s talk about life online” page gives advice on how to begin these discussions, how to work together as a family to support your child online and how to handle difficult conversations or situations. Each section has examples of questions to use to start conversations around safe and positive internet use.

You can check out the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s webpage to see how you can get involved with Anti-Bullying Week, whether on social media or in school!