National Anti Bullying week is nearly with us, and in preparation for this, Unique Voice have been busy preparing two shows for primary and secondary school pupils in Bristol that form part of the Unique Voice Triple R anti-bullying programme. Trailers and extracts from Repeat After Me & Influenced were shown as part of the North Bristol multi agency meeting last week, which leads me to reflect upon how bullying has changed and developed in recent years.

I think it safe to say that the majority of us will have experienced bullying during our school years, some of us as perpetrators, others as victims whilst some see the situation from a distance, observing the experiences of others. But, as difficult as that may have been, there came the end of the school day, where those caught up in the situation could hopefully retreat to safety and peace.  Now on the other hand, our technology crazed world has introduced an added threat- cyberbullying.   We’ve all heard of various celebrities being hounded online, some receiving death threats, others receiving insult after insult over twitter for an act or photograph which warranted no such response, but we need to address that this problem is also occurring much closer to home. Young people are being hounded or ridiculed via texts or social media sites by their peers every minute of the day; rumours run riot on BBM, and unflattering photos or cruel status updates thrive on Facebook newsfeeds.

Both Influenced and Repeat After Me work to explore the devastating effects this form of bullying can have on young people. Creating a seemingly inescapable battleground, the misuse of social media and networking sites are destroying the confidence and self-esteem of teens. It would seem not even children are safe from this development; having taught hundreds of primary school children in years 5 and 6 this term, it would seem around 85% of these 9/10 year olds are already using Facebook or other social media and networking sites to communicate with people.