A push to crack down on bullying in Leeds schools has been launched this week and the campaign is being backed by the Leeds Rhinos Foundation.
It comes as new figures out today show the number of 11 to 17-year-olds who say they’ve been bullied online has doubled within the last year.
Staff who work with children are being taught how to deal with it, with a conference last night covering topics like homophobic bullying and reporting hate crimes.
Leeds Rhinos Foundation are working with Leeds City Council to promote the campaign as well as supporting the Anti-Bullying Week which runs from 17th-21st November. Staff from the Foundation attended the conference and they were joined by Rhinos stars Luke Briscoe and Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who is also a trustee of the Foundation.
Speaking about the importance of teaching children that differences are a good thing Jones Buchanan said: “When you look through the Leeds Rhinos team, which has been the most successful rugby league team in the last decade, it’s because we’ve got such a diverse range of individuals who use their individual talents for the collective game.
“I’ve heard loads of little quotes. One of them is Dr Seuss – he says ‘you are you, that’s truer than true. There’s no one alive that’s you-er than you.’ And that means that you’re special.”
Luke Briscoe added: “Don’t keep it to yourself if you’re being bullied. There’s people out there who are willing to help.”
The conference, which took place at the David Young Academy, was aimed at helping to equip professionals with the skills and information to help confront and tackle bullying.
Jamie Dodds-Griffin from Leeds City Council organised the event: “We want Leeds to be the best city in the UK for young people to grow up in,” he said.
“There are very few things more child-friendly than making sure that our staff and our children and young people know how to deal with bullying if they experience it.”
Councillor Judith Blake says the lessons can apply to social media too: “The whole message we’re giving is around being strong, self esteem and giving kids the resilience not to be destroyed by the messages that they might pick up on,” she said.