Editorial: Add voice to anti-bullying battle

Rachel Wise.

This Friday is "Pink Shirt Day" - the culmination of Bullying-Free NZ Week.

More than 1000 schools, workplaces and community groups have registered for Pink Shirt Day, with activities planned to celebrate diversity and raise awareness.

Bullying is an age-old problem and has possibly even shaped history. Sir Winston Churchill was bullied at school and in a book published in 2014 British politician, historian and journalist Boris Johnson suggests that he was driven, in part, by a desire to prove something to those who had bullied him.

It doesn't always end, however, with the victim becoming Prime Minister of the UK and leading their country to victory in a World War.

More often, bullying carries on until the person on the receiving end gets miserable enough to get help or get away.

When I was at school and being picked on by a big kid or two, getting help wasn't simple. The reporting of bullying was "telling tales" and we were told to say "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me".

That mantra was less than useless, even when shouted full in the face of an advancing "big kid", but there was always option two: run away.

Now, with cyber bullying entering the mix, running away only goes so far. Bullies come into our houses, our children's bedrooms via their phones, ipads, the family laptop.

Thankfully the issue is being taken seriously. Whether the remedial efforts can keep pace or outstrip technology remains to be seen, but this Friday is a chance to step up, don a pink shirt and say no to bullying.