Scotland goes online to tackle bullying
On Friday 2 December, students from Perth High School became the
first Scottish teens to be trained as qualified CyberMentors as
part of Beatbullying's award winning anti-bullying initiative,
CyberMentors.
Beatbullying, the UK's leading bullying prevention charity, has
been working with Perth & Kinross Council to set up the first
CyberMentor training session in Scotland, as the charity seeks to
roll out the initiative across the whole of the country.
Thirty Perth High School students from S2 upwards are
joining eight thousand youngsters from around the UK who have
already received specialist training from Beatbullying staff
designed to enable young people to help and support their peers
with any bullying issue, whether on or off-line, within the safe
environment of the CyberMentors.org.uk website. The students will
have to pass a five-stage training course before they graduate as
the first fully trained Scottish CyberMentors.
Showing how initiative works
At an event held at Perth High School, representatives from
Beatbullying, Perth & Kinross Council and Perth High School
were joined by Tayside Police Deputy Chief Constable and the
National Lead for Social Media, Gordon Scobbie.
The newly trained CyberMentors also gave a demonstration of how the
programme works, showcasing the peer-to-peer support that will be
now available from young people, for young people in
Scotland.
As part of their CyberMentors training session, the students will
also learn about Beatbullying's latest initiative, The Big March
2012; the world's first global virtual march to ask the United
Nation to make it a child's right to live a life free from
bullying.
The students will be given the opportunity to create avatars of
themselves at www.beatbullying.org/bigmarch
which will join the 150,000 parents, teachers, young people and
celebrities - including Pixie Lott, Aston Merrygold and
Jedward - who have already signed up to take part in the
virtual protest that will go across websites from around the world,
such as MTV, Orange and Universal Music on the 31st January next
year.
Universal welcome for scheme
Emma Jane Cross, CEO of Beatbullying, said: "We are delighted to
bring CyberMentors to Scotland for the first time.
"It is fantastic that students from Perth High School are
volunteering to provide support and guidance to other young people,
both locally and across the country, in a bid to tackle
bullying.
"CyberMentors forms a crucial part of our ongoing battle to stamp
out bullying and is the direct result of feedback given by the
young people we have worked with across the country for the past
seven years. Young people are more tech-savvy than ever and over
60% say they would actively seek advice online from their peers -
CyberMentors.org.uk is ideal platform to enable this.
"We are hoping that this CyberMentors training session in Perth,
Scotland, will be the first of many and that the success of today's
launch will help us attract more support so that we can roll the
scheme out beyond this inaugural session far and wide across
Scotland."
Pupils advised on staying safe online
Councillor Liz Grant, Perth & Kinross Council's Lifelong
Learning Convener, said: "The way in which our pupils are made
aware of the need to stay safe online has been praised in the
recent and extremely positive Child Protection inspection for the
Perth and Kinross area. In addition, our efforts have been
recognised at a national level by the Child Exploitation and Online
Protection Centre (CEOP).
"Having the opportunity, in partnership with Beatbullying, to build
on what has already been achieved, and be the first area in
Scotland to introduce the CyberMentors scheme, is fantastic. Young
people are in a good position to support and guide each other and
the special training from the initiative will help develop these
skills and encourage them to be great citizens both on the web and
in day to day life. I hope from today's beginnings at Perth High
School that we can see CyberMentors in all our secondary schools in
the future."
Tom Jamieson, Acting Headteacher at Perth High School, said: "The
majority of our young people regularly communicate through online
networks. Such communication is usually very positive and builds
strong friendships and it is important that we recognise the wider
advantages which internet communication creates. There can be times
when young people can face difficulties on line and we should not
shy away from engaging with them to offer strategies which will
help to keep them safe.
"With our partners in Beatbullying, their CyberMentors scheme, and
with the support of Perth & Kinross Council, we are actively
promoting straightforward help and support to help our pupils to
deal more easily with any on line concerns."
A place for youngsters to get help and support
Since its launch, over 1.5 million children and young people
have visited the CyberMentors.org.uk site to seek help, support and
advice for bullying issues and other wellbeing issues too.
Beatbullying hopes to grow that number by training further
youngsters in Scotland and nationwide to encourage more young
people to sign up and use their own personal bullying experiences
to help others through the award winning mentoring scheme that
harnesses social networking for good.
For more information, visit www.cybermentors.org.uk
or www.beatbullying.org
