Bullying Advice

Books, DVDs and Projects about Traveller bullying Beat the Bullies Gypsy Traveller Comic strip What to do about Bullying Facts and Figures The greatest fact to remember is this: Gypsy and Traveller Young People are bullied more than any other ethnic minority in England. - This is Who We Are (2007) highlights the extent of racial abuse aimed at children and young people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in England. Eight out of ten of those questioned (86%) had suffered racial abuse. Nearly two-thirds (63%) had been bullied or physically attacked. - Having Our Say, A peer research project with young Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland 2005, found that 92% said they had been picked on because they were Gypsy/Travellers. - Room to Roam: England’s Irish Travellers by Action Group for Irish Youth found that Irish Travellers in the school system are often negatively stereotyped as inattentive and slow learners, that they experience racist bullying because of their ethnic background and are often blamed when they retaliate. - Prejudice and Pride (by Jake Bowers), commissioned by Ormiston Children and Families Trust, looked at the issues and opinions of Young Traveller children in Cambridge about the issues that concern and affect them. The report provided some interesting insights into how young Gypsies and Travellers viewed school and what they experienced whilst at school. Among many other findings, the report revealed that: * Only 52% of those interviewed said they went to school * 60% said that they felt that their culture was insufficiently valued and defended by schools * 36% had been bullied in school But perhaps the most dramatic responses came on the issue of racial hatred and bullying. When asked the question: Have you ever experienced racism or prejudice because you were a Traveller? 68% said yes and 32% said no. Many said this had been within the school system though others reported being physically assaulted, having caravans stoned and being spat on in public. - In the BBC News article called "I feel like i'm being pulled back", Chantelle says that She's tried over the years to hide her identity as a traveller while at school, and sometimes she even "talks English" to escape the bullying. But her own accent usually leads to the cries of "pikey" she is all too accustomed to hearing. Read the article here - "It would start with name-calling, a string of obscenities flung at Lisa Devers as she arrived at school each day. Then the violence would begin, elbows in the ribs, shoving on the stairs, punching, kicking, scratching, spitting. Lisa is 15 and the child of a travelling family. She has attended, and left, four schools in the space of two years and will never go back. She has had her nose broken and is partially deaf after one particularly vicious beating. She wants to be a beauty therapist and knows she needs qualifications, but the bullying and intimidation are more than she can bear". Travelling Plight, The Guardian Newspaper, 2001. -"Stop Bullying Now": A guide for Gypsy and Traveller children, is a leaflet by STEP. Leaflets can be obtained from: Scottish Traveller Education Programme, The University of Edinburgh, Holyrood Road EH8 8AQ   - How it feels to be a Traveller — a school student explains I am a young Traveller girl at the age of 13 who lives in Northolt. Sometimes Traveller children don't go to school. I would like to tell you why that is. I just wanted to share how it feels to be a Traveller who goes to school and how difficult that it is for me. Maybe it is different in some schools but, for me, this is how it is. I don't have many friends in school because they don't want one of their friends to be a Traveller so, when I am in school, I feel isolated from my class and I can always hear them talking about me behind my back and calling me a "pikey". Most of my teachers won't have time for me. They think I am just wasting their time because all the other Travellers that have been to my school have never stuck it out as it is so lonesome. I don't think they know how hard it is when you are being called names every day and getting abused. At other times, when there are parties or when some of the girls in my class are going to the pictures, I don't get invited because I am a Traveller. At break and at lunchtime, I am always looking over my shoulder because I am scared in case anyone comes up and hits me or shouts abuse at me. So, the next time you might wonder why Travellers never stay in school or come to school, that's why! People say that Black, Asian and other ethnic groups suffer a lot of racism. What about Travellers? Please, the next time you see a Traveller, don't shout abuse. Just remember what Travellers have to go through every day and ask: would you like it to happen to you? Source: an essay by a student at a high school in Ealing, 2005, Teachernet website What's the point? What's the point Of trying to be a nurse When all you get is grief. I know I can do it and I'm going to get through it. So what's the point? Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy Is all you get. So what's the point? Travellers is what we are. What's wrong with us? We're just like you. Nothing special. Nothing different. I can get A levels just like you. Just because I'm a Traveller doesn't Mean I can't. They call us Tramps, They think we're poor. WE'RE NOT! So what's the point? Some live in houses believe It or not. We're just like you. But what I'd like to know is WHAT'S THE POINT? KS3 student of Traveller Irish heritage, London Part of the DFES National Anti-Bullying Poetry Competition