Feeling Safe / discussion with students December 2006
‘What makes you feel safe?’
Watching TV
Staying at home
Being at school or in the Library
Knowing you have supportive friends and family
Love from parents or friends
Having a mobile phone
Being in a group
Protection from someone like a teacher
Teachers enforcing rules
Unsafe
I feel unsafe alone in a public space & feel threatened next to a policeman with a gun.
Philosophical questions
Why don’t people listen to the rules of safety? (1)
How can you tell when people are going to behave safely (0)
Why are some things in life unsafe? (2)
What makes you feel safe? (0)
What makes you feel unsafe?(0)
Why do people commit crimes? (1)
When or where do people feel most safe? (1)
What do you do when you want to feel safe? (2)
Why do your family care about you? (1)
Why are some people targeted & others aren’t? (3)
Why do you find it difficult to communicate with violent people?
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Why are some people targeted & others aren’t?
‘Lots of people in Newham find difficulty understanding why crime happens in their area”
“There is always a reason why people target other people! I don’t think its ever going to end.”
“Everyone makes fun of everybody in some sort of way”
School Rivalry
People can be targeted because they go to a particular school
Appearance/identity
You can be targeted because of what you look like, your appearance, your identity, religion, how you speak, your accent, where you come from.
You can be targeted if you have nice clothing or have been brought up in a different environment
“They call you boffin and things like that”
“You can be targeted because your name sounds funny”
Peer pressure
“Its not about who you are but what you have”
“If you don’t have the latest ……..you’re not cool!”
You can be targeted because of something your friend has done
You can be targeted because of association or revenge.
“People create excuses so you fight with them”
People can be targeted for fun; bullies turn a small incident into a big issue so that they can show of in front of friends.
“They call you names if you don’t react” It’s intimidating.
Jealousy
“ If you are seen to do lots in school & keep getting good marks and are cleverer than other people you get called ‘teachers pet’ and things like that”
“Because you are stronger than them”
Bullying
“They pick on part of your personality that weak”
People are targeted because other people think they are a soft option
Bullying comes from people who are having problems and they want attention
“It’s getting involved with the wrong sort of people”
“They like to take out their problems on other people” jealousy
“Why shouldn’t they suffer I suffered”
Some people who target others might be bullied themselves at home; by a stepfather or mothers boyfriend.
Psychological effects of bullying
There is no solution to bullying except seeing a psychiatrist or ‘shrink’
“Its not just physical bullying it can be psychological the bullies say things like ‘don’t run and tell the teacher’ it makes you feel like you’ve got nowhere to turn to, people then notice differences in that person”
“You end up hating yourself because of everyone hating you”
“You can develop anger problems because you boil it up inside”
“Advice would be don’t boil it up because you then create more problems”
“Young people who are bullied could grow up and bully their own children”
This cycle can be avoided
Where do you go to feel better?
How do you feel better?
Negative responses: Self-harm, do drugs, withdraw, go to sleep
Positive: “talk to Frank!” “Call child line”
Play a game, do kick –boxing or exercise to let out aggression, stress ball, distract yourself by being with your family
“If you can’t beat them join them”
Not just in the school community
You can be targeted because you are old, because you live alone, the old target the young, the tormenters think they are superior.
“Old people make us stand up and give them our seats on the bus”
What message do you want to give people on your posters?
“Everyone is equal”
“You can be safe but you have to treat everyone the same”
Images of hopePeople of different cultural identities all together smiling on a globe (Benetton ad circa 1980)
Slogans“Think twice, one moment can change your life”
“Everyone can have good inside them”
“Stay out of the dark – come into the light”
