Ask Sam letter

Hi there

Thanks for writing in to me. You were really brave to approach the bullies and tell them to stop, as well as telling your teachers what was going on. It’s disappointing to hear that they didn’t respond in the way that you have hoped.

I want to let you know that I agree with you, that their behaviour sounds like bullying. Your school has a duty to try and stop any bullying that is happening. I want to let you know that it is important that you keep telling people about what is going on, so that they know the bullying hasn’t stopped. I imagine being bullied at home as well by your brother’s friend might really feel like the last straw. Could you think about telling an adult at home, other teachers or staff at school? You deserve to have all the support you need with this.

Sometimes it can help to keep a bullying diary where you write down when, where, dates, times, what happened, who was there and how it made it you feel. This can help to evidence everything that is happening for you and you could use this to help for you to explain to people about what exactly is going on at the moment.

It’s really concerning that the people at school are physically hurting you. You might want to think about reporting the abuse you've experienced in school to the police. Punching and kicking you is really serious and it needs to be stopped.

You might find it useful to have a look at the Bullying page in Explore, as well as the Beat Bullying website - Beat Bullying help children and young people who are experiencing bullying.

I just want to let you know that if you wanted to get some support and help you could talk in confidence to a counsellor at ChildLine either on a 1-2-1 chat, or by calling free on 0800 1111.

Take care

Sam