Catholic children's charity offers range of services to combat bullying

Dr Keenan

The number of children and young people in the UK needing counselling for online bullying has risen by 88% in the last five five years, Childline announced today, at the start of #AntiBullyingWeek.

Working in more than 70 school in London, offering counselling and therapy to children and young people, the Catholic Children's Society Westminster is all too familiar with the issue of bullying and its impact.

The charity's CEO, Dr Rosemary Keenan, told ICN: "Bullying can be perceived as a range of actions, such as a derogatory comment, remark or a physical attack with the intent to belittle, intimidate, hurt and isolate a person. It is normally done in a way when a person or group of people target a person's vulnerability.

"These vulnerabilities may include: living below the poverty line, being a young carer, belonging to an ethnic minority, disability and special educational needs, gender related issues, family environments, status (e.g. wealth, academic achievement) or just not being able to afford the latest 'must-have' e.g. mobile phone. Generally, not conforming to what is constructed as the norm usually increases the likelihood of bullying.

"Bullying can take place on the way to school, in the playground, in the classroom, within the wider community and now extends to the use of social media. This use of social media means that bullying can take place within the home because access to social media is more often than not 24/7.

"All schools have to have an anti-bullying policy and this can vary within each school. The intention of these policies and procedures is to deal with and acknowledge when a young person is being bullied and to act on it. These interventions can range from taking statements from pupils and offering mediation or restorative justice, to giving sanctions such as detentions, and in extreme cases managed moves or exclusions.

"School staff will generally refer to our service when there are more complex underlying complex issues. Often our therapist will work not only with the victims of bullying but also the perpetrator(s). Often the common denominator is that they are both vulnerable usually for the reasons mentioned above.

Our counsellors work with how the bullying has impacted on a person. Normally referrals are through the school when the child/young person show signs of distress such as self harm, becomes a school refuser, has suicidal ideations, low moods and/or a general/dramatic change in behaviour. Our School counsellors work with children and young people individually or in group work after they have done a full assessment to ensure the best form of intervention for the person concerned. The aim is generally to help the client to gain some resilience and self esteem and to pin point the support they may need. It also involves looking at the future and finding strategies to build a healthy and robust attitude. In almost all cases our therapists role normally extends to becoming an advocate for the client, working with families to support them, a consultant to staff and supporting a whole school approach to anti bullying. The key is to have a transparent approach to bullying so that it is not a hidden and accepted form of behaviour that is tolerated within the school culture."

For more information on the Catholic Children's Society Westminster, see: www.cathchild.org.uk/