Bullying Calls Dominate What’s Up Counselling Service Statistics

9 March 2007

Bullying is second only to handling friendships as the biggest problem for callers to What’s Up, the free professional telephone counselling service for five to 18 year olds.

The counsellors at 0800WHATSUP answered 156,477 calls during 2006. Although 39 problem types are tracked, 22% of the callers aged five to 12 rang about bullying alone. Forty percent of the calls about bullying reported frequent or continual harassment.
“We should be very concerned about the effects of bullying on our children,” said Grant Taylor, Executive Director of What’s Up.

“Bullying can cause anxiety, humiliation, lowered self-esteem and decreased learning achievement. If it is not addressed in a timely, effective and sensitive manner, bullying can lead to depression and thoughts of self-harm. The child’s emotional security, well-being and ability to learn can all suffer severely and the impact is often carried into adulthood.”

“All kids have a right to feel safe from harm or threats of harm. Bullying is a form of violence just as much as domestic violence or emotional abuse among adults. It matters to young people that they are treated fairly and can feel close to others and part of the community, both in and out of school,” he said.

“And failure to deal with the problem effectively has long-term social costs for everyone.”
“It is crucial that adults take reports of bullying seriously, and that they listen to, believe and support the children involved. Trivialising, minimising or ignoring the issue adds to the child’s sense of isolation and exclusion. Children need to be encouraged to talk about bullying whenever they see it and should not be expected to cope with bullying on their own.”

Mr Taylor said when it comes to dealing with bullies, it is very important that anti-bullying strategies are adopted and modelled by adults’ behaviour at home and in schools.
“Reacting with anger or punishment to children who engage in bullying is self-defeating, and serves to model the very behaviour we want to stop. Children who bully others also have a right to be treated with respect. Their bullying can be a way to try to deal with a complicated and difficult situation.”

He said one 15-year old boy called What’s Up to say he was worried about being suspended from school because of his tendency to get in to fights.

“He was worried that if he did not finish school, he would not be able to get a job and would end up a loser. He believed that if he stopped fighting, he would be branded as a loser as well, and get hassled even more than before. But if he fought and won, he would not be picked on as much”.

“Adults need to show children the way by conducting their relationships with their children and others in ways that do not involve violence and intimidation.”

What’s Up counsellors will help a bullied caller feel understood and supported. They will guide the caller in making a plan of action to address the bullying, so the caller can do something to deal with the problem rather than feel helpless. The callers can ring back and speak to the same counsellor again to review how the plan worked out and revise the plan, if necessary.

Mr Taylor said there are good resources available for children and adults concerned about bullying, including the Police/Telecom website www.nobully.org.nz, the Kia Kaha anti-bullying programme for schools and the “Stop Bullying” video available from video hire stores”.

What’s Up is a free, confidential, professional telephone counselling service for all people in New Zealander aged 5 to 18. Callers can speak free of charge to a trained counsellor between noon and midnight, seven days a week from any telephone in New Zealand, including mobile phones. Callers are welcome to ring with any issue, no matter how small.