Collingwood Students Attend Workshop About Cyber Bullying and How to Prevent It

Last Tuesday 12th July, students at Collingwood College in Camberley attended workshops about cyber-bullying.  The workshops were run by officers from Surrey Police, who also jointly

funded the scheme with the Safer Surrey Heath Partnership with the aim to target cyber bullies and reduce the number of teenagers who are bullied online.  

Social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, are now an integral part of most teenagers' lives. Although the majority of young people use them responsibly, a small minority see them as a platform to verbally abuse and torment others.   

An Anti Cyber Bullying Roadshow came to Collingwood College, Camberley and Year 8 students were able to take part in drama workshops, group discussions, and art and design tasks.       

All the work was showcased at the college at a special event on 12th July. Parents, teachers and other local agencies were in attendance.  

Surrey Heath's Youth Intervention Officer PC Melanie Sefton came up with the idea for the initiative. She says    

"The students and teachers at Collingwood feel this roadshow has given them a much better understanding of cyber bullying and how to recognise the signs.

"This was initially a pilot project but the Partnership is now hoping to roll it out to other secondary schools in Surrey Heath."

For further information about cyber bullying and how to prevent it visit the Fearless website.  The website has lots of useful information and also links to the CEOP website with advice on to protect young people online, where to get help and report anything that has happened to a child or young person online that is inappropriate.