Bullying & CHILD-on-CHILD Abuse
Child-on-Child abuse occurs when a young person is exploited, bullied and/or harmed by their peers who are the same or of a similar age. Everyone directly involved with child on child abuse is under the age of 18.
Bullying and child-on-child abuse might include:
- Targeted, verbal, physical, psychological face-to-face harm and/or online bullying
- Sexual violence and sexual harassment, including upskirting
- Consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes/semi-nudes (sexting)
- Initiation (sometimes referred to as ‘hazing’) type violence and rituals/gang activity
- Abuse within intimate partner relationships (including teenage relationship abuse).
Bullying:
The Anti-Bullying Alliance defines bullying as,
‘the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power.’
Bullying is never acceptable and takes many forms. It can be:
Targeted:
- aimed at specific groups of people and be homophobic, racial, disablist, gender related
Face to Face:
- Physical – kicking, hitting, pushing, damaging/stealing property
- Verbal – name calling, teasing, insulting, intimidation
- Psychological – spreading rumours, isolating, mimicking, manipulative, playing jokes to embarrass or humiliate
Happen in cyberspace:
- Texting unpleasant messages, sending unpleasant photos, posting unpleasant messages on social networking sites
In the Academy you should always report bullying to a member of staff, whether it is happening to you or someone else. This might be your Pastoral Year Leader, but you could also talk to someone in our Safeguarding Team.
You might also find it helpful to visit:
CONSENSUAL AND NON-CONSENSUAL SHARING OF NUDES/SEMI-NUDES (SEXTING):
Sexting, or the possession and sharing of indecent images of children and young people who are under 18 is illegal. Under no circumstances should you share images of yourself or other people who are naked, or only partially dressed ie appear in underwear, who are in a sexual position or talking about sexual things they’d like to do.
If you have shared a ‘nude’ or a ‘dick pic’ then it’s better to report it and take steps to have it removed. It’s also important to report any instances where a sexual image has been sent to you. Speak to a member of staff in the Academy for advice – we can help you to sort this out so that you aren’t worrying alone.
You might also find it helpful to visit (right click on logo):
Sexual Violence and Harassment:
Sexual Violence
Sexual violence is an unwanted sexual act or activity, or abusive sexual contact. As defined by the Sexual Offences Act, this would include: rape; assault by penetration; sexual assault.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. This can occur both on and off line and can include;
sexual jokes; sexual comments; sexual name calling; deliberately brushing up against someone; upskirting; sexualised on-line bullying; non-consensual sharing of sexual images (being in possession of a sexually explicit photograph of someone who is under 18 years of age is illegal).
Children and young people can be victims and perpetrators of harmful sexual behaviours.
Remember the rules around consent:
- Children under the age of 13 cannot consent, the age of consent is 16.
- If the child is under 13, it is statutory rape.
- Consent can be withdrawn at any time and should never be presumed.
- Consent to a sexual activity may be given to one type of activity but not another.
- Consent should also be freely given.
- Pressuring or forcing someone to give consent, is either rape or sexual assault.
If you have been a victim of sexual violence or sexual harassment then it’s important to talk to a trusted adult who will take you seriously, listen and make sure you are provided with the right support. You can talk to any member of staff in the Academy or speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team directly.
You might also find it helpful to watch the following consent video and visit the links :
Healthy Relationships
Getting involved in a relationship can be complicated but it is important that both people respect each other. Healthy relationships can bring lots of positive feelings and be good for mental health. However, it can sometimes be hard to judge whether certain behaviours are normal, or whether they are abusive.
When relationships become abusive they can be physically abusive, but also emotionally abusive. Sometimes they can also be sexually abusive.
Physical abuse can include:
- Hitting
- Punching
- Slapping
- Holding someone down
Emotional Abuse can include:
- One partner getting upset/angry when the other person tries to see their friends
- One partner threatening to spread rumours about the other
- Putdowns, name calling, verbal abuse
- Pressuring a partner to send them sexually explicit photographs (being in possession of a sexually explicit photograph of someone who is under 18 years of age is illegal).
- If someone is LGBT but not ‘out’ their partner may threaten to ‘out’ them
Sexual abuse involves forcing someone to do any sexual act they don’t want to – this is rape or sexual assault and a criminal offence.
In a healthy relationship someone should not be trying to control you e.g. want to know where you are going, who you are with, what you are wearing etc. Controlling or threatening behaviour can be physical, sexual, emotional and psychological.
If your relationship doesn’t feel right it most probably isn’t. If your partner is doing any of the following then it’s worth talking to a trusted adult for advice:
- Checks your emails, phone and social media
- Puts you down frequently in front of others
- Isolates you from family and friends
- Has mood swings and temper outbursts
- Displays possessive or controlling behaviour
- Is extremely jealous and insecure?
If you are worried that a relationship you or a friend are in, speak to a trusted adult or a member of the safeguarding team.
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