Page 10 - Exercise 3

Page 10 - Exercise 3

Bullying

Bullying is a big problem in many schools. Read our special report.

1) Toby was a typical victim of bullying. This is his story. We moved house last year. So I had to go to a new school. In my class there were three boys who were real bullies. Everybody was afraid of them. On my second day they came up to me after PE. I had a new pair of Trainers, which were a birthday present for my grandparents. At first the boys were very nice to me and they said that they like my trainers. Then their leader said I need some new trainers. I think I’ll have these. I tried to grab them back, but the other boys pushing me against the wall. They punched and kicked me. And told my parents that I lost my trainers. A few days later the boys asked me for some money. I gave it to them because I didn’t want to be beaten up again. Every week after that they asked for something. If I didn’t give it to them they used to hit me. I hated going to school, but they even reached me at home. They used to send text messages to my mobile phone. Things like will see you tomorrow at break time. Don’t forget the money. Luckily my mom saw one of these texts, and I told her everything. The next day she went to the school to see the head teacher. He called the bullies into his office and he talked to some other kids in my class too. In the end two of the bullies were expelled from the school. Things have been okay since they left and I haven’t had any more text messages. I’ve seen the two boys who were expelled in the town too. But they haven’t done anything. I saw them in town yesterday. In fact, but they just ignored me. I was a bit worried about that at first and got my mom found out about it. If you keep it to yourself. The bullies would just carry on.

2) Almost half of all young people say that they have been bullied. Bullies often use text messages and the Internet to reach victims even when they aren’t at school. This is called cyber bullying. With boys bullying is usually physical. With girls it’s often verbal. So cyber bullying is twice as common with girls than boys. Every year, about 25 young people in the UK kill themselves because they are bullied at school.

3) Most victims are kids who are different in some way. This might be because they are a different color or religion. Are very small, overweight, or have red hair, wear glasses. Or new at the school. Unnaturally quiet or shy, prefer to be on their own rather than part of a group.

4) A typical bully isn’t a big ugly kid that nobody likes. In fact, the opposite is often true. Bullies are usually popular and have a lot of friends. They aren’t stupid. In fact, bullies are often very intelligent. They are usually good-looking and popular with the opposite sex. They wear fashionable clothes. Bullies are often the fashion leaders in the school. A lot of bullies have also been bullied themselves.