Bullying Sucks Campaign

Have you ordered Bullying Sucks campaign materials? If so, we want to know what you've been doing! We have sent out thousands of posters and postcards and booklets, and now we need to know how you've been using them. Have you made the change in your institution? Have you encountered difficulties making this change? Did you run an awareness raising activity? Let us know, by filling in this very short survey (mostly multiple choice questions).

This year, NUS LGBT and Welfare campaigns have teamed up to raise awareness about bullying in FE and HE - the invisible crisis ruining thousands of students’ lives. 63% of respondents to our bullying survey said that they had been bullied, or are being bullied right now.

But very few colleges or universities have anti-bullying policies which are both accessible and inclusive. Where these do exist, most students don’t even know about them, and they can be difficult to use. This suggests that the problem of bullying is much bigger than is currently reported or recognised by our universities and colleges.

Bullying is a particular problem for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans students, who make up around 7% of the student population. 6% of all the respondents to the bullying survey said that they had experienced homophobic or transphobic bullying whilst at university or college.

The Bullying Sucks campaign is in part about supporting students who experience bullying. With a team of experts, we have developed an online module to help students who are suffering homophobic or transphobic bullying to take positive steps to help themselves.

• To raise awareness among students and decision makers that combating bullying is everyone’s responsibility
• To enable student officers to campaign for change in your institution, and to support and empower your students who are suffering bullying
• To mobilise students to lobby their vice chancellor or college principal to implement accessible and inclusive anti-bullying policies
• To call for a government review into bullying in FE and HE

• Beat Bullying http://www.beatbullying.org/
• Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) http://www.eachaction.org.uk/
• Schools Out! http://www.schools-out.org.uk/
• Bullying Online http://www.bullying.co.uk/?gclid=CLumzNXniosCFRROQwodAjtCrQ
• Anti Bullying Network http://www.antibullying.net/
• TUC Bullied at work? http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/rights_bullyatwork.cfm