Thursday 10th March 2011:

I researched some more about Childline and the NSPCC today. A few days ago I discovered that Childline is part of the NSPCC, which I didn’t know before, and therefore felt it important to also research this company.

Put simply, Childline is: ‘a counselling service for children and young people.’ On their website it says: ‘You can contact ChildLine about anything - no problem is too big or too small. 

If you are feeling scared or out of control or just want to talk to someone you can contact ChildLine. 

Some of the things that you might want to contact us about are feeling lonely or unloved, worries about the future, problems about school, bullying, drugs, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, physical and sexual abuse, running away and concerns about parents, brothers, sisters and friends, and crimes against you.’

It also didn’t occur to me that Childline deals with other things apart from bullying. Although this is beneficial to its users, I feel that having a company just dedicated to bullying would also be a good thing. Therefore, I think that the company which I create will mainly focus on those being bullied as well as the bullies themselves.

When I went to the bullying section of the Childline, this is what it said: ‘Bullying can happen to anyone at any age. Being bullied at school, home or online might involve someone pushing you, hitting you, teasing you, talking about you or calling you names. No one has the right to hurt you or make you feel bad, and if you are being bullied you don't have to put up with it, you can talk to someone about it. If you are being bullied or worried about a friend who is being bullied, there are different ways that ChildLine can help’ and ‘Bullying can also be part of other forms of abuse, including neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.‘. I think that these definitions of bullying are true, and the expectation that it’s not suitable also helps the victim to understand that it’s not their fault and that they have the right to seek help. I think that this is important because usually the victim doesn’t speak up because (apart from being scared), they feel it’s not necessary or they may not even realise that they are being bullied.

I also saw this piece of typography on the Childline website, which I liked as it contained words relating to abuse and feelings/ emotions, as well as looking attractive, which is what I want to focus on within my own work.

When looking at the NSPCC (The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) website, it said: ‘The NSPCC is inspired by a belief that we can make a difference for all children. That’s why we aim to end cruelty to children in the UK. Even if it takes many generations to realise it, we achieve much more for children by having this inspirational vision.’ I think it’s important that they’ve noted the fact that it may take many generations to realise that cruelty to children must be stopped but that if they never try to stop it, it may never stop. The NSPCC focuses on a few important issues and groups, which include: those who experience neglect, physical abuse in high-risk families (those families with violent adults, alcohol and drug abuse and mental health issues), those who experience sexual abuse and children under the age of one. I feel that the word ‘cruelty’, which is what the NSPCC focuses on, will always relate to bullying, and so the NSPCC may be more relevant and specific to my work rather than Childline (although this will also be useful to look at). They have stated that to help end cruelty to children in the UK, they: ‘create and deliver the services that are most effective at protecting children, provide advice and support for adults and professionals worried about a child and work with organisations to ensure they effectively protect children – and challenge those who do not campaign for changes to legislation, policy and practice in order to keep children safe.’ It’s interesting that they also focus on challenging organisations that don’t prevent cruelty to children, etc. I will look at these things when thinking about my own organisation, however, I think I would like my organisation to focus on all age groups, and also help those who are taking part in the cruelty, as these are the people who need to be prevented, and therefore helped to do this. Also, I feel that the word ‘organisation’ relates better to the work I am developing rather than the word ‘company’, and so I will be using this word from now on when describing my work.

I also read the rest of Chapter 9 in the ‘Bullying’ book. I read about ‘what can be done about the bully’, where it said ‘there are some principles of aggression management that need to be identified before starting how to deal with the bully: bully in any form is unacceptable, early intervention is important, individuals must take responsibility for their own actions, parents must take responsibility for their own children, failure to deal with the bully will only encourage further aggression.’ I also read about the prevention of bullying, and how this initially needs to be taught by parents when the child is young (eg: being kind to others, etc). It was interesting to read that: ‘it is worth remembering that the word ‘discipline’ comes from the Latin disciplina meaning to teach. The importance of teaching the management of aggressive impulses has already been stressed and clear, consistent discipline is a necessary precondition if children are to have a chance of learning right from wrong.’ This shows the importance of consistent teaching and that it’s not always up to the child to know how to react in certain situations (both as the bully and the victim). Perhaps a part of my organisation can be helping to teach the valuable lessons which will prevent bullying from occurring, as this seems to be one of the main reasons as to why it happens – because some people just haven’t been taught that it’s wrong. It then goes on talk about the differences between preventing the different types of bully (aggressive, anxious and passive). This reinforced my previous thoughts about each bully needing to be dealt with individually and in different ways in order for the attempt to prevent the bully to reach its full potential. I will remember these points when thinking of how my campaign and organisation can help the bully as well as the victim.

Target for today: Continue with research about what companies such as Childline do and read more from ‘bullying’ book.

Target for tomorrow: Attend ‘Affordable Art Fair’ and remember what effect I’d like my work to have and how the pieces I see can influence and develop these ideas whilst viewing the work.