Students say no to bullying

Nimisha Mistry, Head of Student Support and Equality at Hopwood Hall College with Hopwood Hall College website design student Aaman Majid, 17, from Rochdale

In the UK, it’s reported that 45% of young people experience bullying before they reach 18 years of age,* but students at Hopwood Hall College have created a pledge wall, allowing students to say no to bullying.

Keen to help raise awareness of the important issue, the pledge wall toured the College’s Middleton and Rochdale campuses so that students and staff could make their pledge showing that bullying is not acceptable.

As a recent nationwide report also highlighted that 34% of young people reported being bullied for prejudiced based reasons such as disability discrimination, while 63% of respondents with a physical disability said they had been bullied in the past*, the anti-bullying event was particularly aimed at raising awareness around bullying of people with disabilities.

As well as the pledge wall students were encouraged to talk about the issues of bullying, with stalls and displays set up around the College. The displays were decorated with ‘bully-proof’ vests – t-shirt designed by the College’s skills for life students with anti-bullying messages.

Nimisha Mistry, Head of Student Support and Equality at Hopwood Hall College said: “Although across the country steps have been taken to tackle bullying, recent surveys show some groups of children and young people are still more likely to be bullied than others.

"Making sure all our students are aware of how bullying can affect people and how they can get help and advice if they need it is really important. This was a great opportunity for students to talk openly about bullying and from the response we had and the amount of pledges that we have collected on our pledge wall, it’s clear to see that Hopwood Hall College is saying no to bullying.”