Anti-Bullying hero

Picture of Alex Holmes

Tuesday 21 November 2006

The recent Anti-Bullying Week hoped to raise awareness of the problems bullying can cause.

Some people are willing to make a stand and Alex Holmes, 17, is one of those people. Here he tells us why campaigning against bullying is so important to him.

How I got involved

I had been bullied throughout a lot of my years at my middle school, where I suffered from racism. I was also on the receiving end of a lot of verbal bullying during my years at secondary school and this was simply because I was slightly different.

It was not until I joined the sixth form that I became passionate about the issue. National Anti-Bullying Weeks had just begun and I wanted to get behind the campaign and so created a role for myself, Student Anti-Bullying Co-ordinator. I was determined to look at the issue and ultimately raise much-needed awareness, as well as maybe making a difference.

What I've done so far

At my school, Kingsbrook in Milton Keynes, we’ve done a huge amount to stamp out bullying. We’ve written a rap about bullying, marked National Anti-Bullying week with a film, attended meetings, held regular drop-ins and even worked hard to promote the need2know site as a great ‘source of support’.

This year we are working even harder! We have an event occurring every day of National Anti-Bullying week. These include the unveiling of our Blue Anti-Bullying Bench, we’ve re-written our Anti-Bullying Charter, organised a local debate on bullying and even teamed up with local sports teams who are supporting us all the way! I'll also be interviewing the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, on his work on bullying.

My success

I invited members of the school to apply for the roles of Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. I was so pleased to see that over 200 students applied for the positions! We now have a great team of students of all ages. I think we’ve been very successful, as now all students know that bullying will not be tolerated and how and where to get support.

Getting media coverage

Our Anti-Bullying rap generated a lot of press coverage. It was performed in front of the whole school in the summer final assembly. It set out where Kingsbrook stood on bullying, what was expected, who to speak to about it and that ultimately it was important to talk.

The students all dressed in the campaign’s colours and had matching flags to wave. My fondest memory of the press coverage would be being interviewed on BBC Radio Northampton.

And the award goes to...

In 2005 I won the Princess Diana Anti-Bullying Memorial Award, for tackling bullying in my school.

Then this year I won the Princess Diana Memorial Award, for my inspirational qualities: courage, commitment, compassion and selfless attitude and service to others, making a real difference to the school community and society.

From fundraising and mentoring to being head boy I pretty much got involved in as much as I could.

Facing the challenge

At times it was hard to juggle my studies and extra-curricular activities, but I think I managed it and I did do pretty well in my A-levels. It’s also been quite hard to create a culture where it’s OK and safe to speak out about bullying.

Our school motto is ‘Working Together’ and that’s exactly what the whole school has been doing!

What next?

Well at the moment I am on a gap year and I am actually back at Kingsbrook as a Learning Support Assistant. I hope to head off to Uni, but I’m still unsure of what I’ll study and where that will be.

I could see myself going into youth work, teaching or on the other hand, video editing and TV production. I’m certainly trying to get as much experience as possible and keep all my options open.