About bullying and victimisation

This is an offence

An offence can be many different things. If someone says or does something that doesn't feel right, that makes you feel sad, hurt or uncomfortable afterwards, it is probably an offence.

Some examples:

• Someone swears at you or calls you a bad name
• Someone uses sex words against you
• Someone laughs at you, makes faces or gestures at you
• Mean scribbles that are all about you
• You are mocked, threatened, beaten, pushed, restrained
• Someone takes or destroys your things
• You receive unpleasant messages via email, text message, social media

If this happens several times, it is usually called bullying.

Both children and adults can offend.

This is not an offence

No-one but the victim can decide whether an incident is an offence. It doesn't matter if someone says it was just a joke or that they didn't mean any offence.

But not everything that feels unpleasant is an offence. A presentation at school can be unpleasant but is not an offence. Someone disagreeing with you, or contradicting you, is not an offence either. Objectively criticising what you do or say is not an insult.

Offending is forbidden and wrong

It is always the person who bullies and offends who is at fault. There is nothing wrong with the person being victimised. Even if someone is being teased for something that is true - for example, the person wears glasses - it is not the fault of the person being teased.

All children have the same rights and equal value; no one should be treated differently. This is stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in several other laws. The Education Act and the Discrimination Act are two of the laws that protect children from offence, at home, during leisure time, at school, in after-school activities and at preschool.

All children and adults have the right to be free from all forms of victimisation.