National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence – Friday 18 March
National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA) was celebrated on Friday 18 March 2022. Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative celebrates 12 years of action, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying.
The theme is BE KIND ONLINE to prevent cyber bullying.
Bullying is deliberate verbal, physical and/or social behaviour intended to cause ongoing physical, social and/or psychological harm. Bullying can make you feel anxious, depressed and lonely. It can happen anywhere — in person, or online using various digital platforms and devices (this is called cyberbullying). It might be obvious to others or hidden.
Tips for secondary school students who experience bullying:
Bullying in person or online might look or feel like being:
• repeatedly hurt physically, or verbally through abusive texts, emails, images, videos, or nasty gossip and chat
• excluded or ignored
• tricked or humiliated by fake accounts.
No one deserves to be bullied or hurt. You can choose to:
• treat others how you would like to be treated — with kindness and respect
• include others in games and chats
• only share information about others with their consent.
You have the right to feel safe and be safe. Here are some ideas about what you
can do if someone is bullying you:
• Talk to someone you trust about it. Try to stay positive. Focus on things you do well.
• Act unimpressed or pretend you don’t care what they say or do to you.
• Use strong, assertive statements if you are talking to them face to face, starting with the word ‘I’; tell the other person ‘I want you to stop that’ in a confident voice. Practise this with your friends.
• Don’t respond to online bullying, it usually just makes it worse.
• Protect yourself online by unfriending them or using privacy settings to block them.
Important links
Bullying. No Way! bullyingnoway.gov.au
eSafety young people esafety.gov.au/young-people
eSafety Guide esafety.gov.au/esafety-guide
eSafety Report esafety.gov.au/report
Kids Helpline kidshelpline.com.au
eHeadspace headspace.org.au/eheadspace
Youth Law Australia yla.org.au
