by Craig Mathieson

Since we set up The Polar Academy nearly 10 years ago, I have seen a massive increase in the amount of bullying of school kids, both within school and outside of it.

The impact of bullying is terrifying to me. It creates a vulnerability in kids which is so damaging and so difficult to repair. It ruins the lives of not just the kids, but sometimes their families too. It wrecks self-esteem, confidence, it puts the kids despair, unfortunately often leading in later life to drugs, alcohol, anti-social behaviour, depression, anxiety and sadly, sometimes suicide. These are just children. Just kids. They don’t deserve anything in their younger years other than joy and hope for their future. Instead, bullying puts a stop to their ambitions, goals and lives. And these kids can live in fear forever.

The only way to stop bullying in schools, and we have experienced this first hand, is for everyone to work together. Not just charities like The Polar Academy, but school leadership teams and teachers, social services, parents and families, and industry champions.

Sometimes it’s really easy to see a simple solution to the bullying of particular young person, but often red tape complicates matters and makes things worse for them. Somehow, everyone who wants to genuinely help anti-bullying, needs to find a way to come together and be responsible for making decisions that will truly put an end to this social epidemic.