The mission of Kidscape is to ensure children live in a safe and nurturing environment. By providing training, support and advice to children, parents, schools and those in professional contact with young people, they enable them to gain knowledge and develop the confidence and skills to challenge abuse and bullying in all its forms.
Kidscape believe that:
- all children have the right to lead their lives free from bullying and abuse
- all adults have a responsibility to support, nurture and care for children enabling them to reach their full potential
- all children should have the opportunity and confidence to report bullying and abuse
- bullying and abuse in all forms are not acceptable and should not be tolerated
- children, confidentiality and trust are at the heart of everything Kidscape does.
The facts about bullying
Bullying is not the same as squabbling, disagreements or scuffles in the playground. It’s a sustained campaign of hatred, and with social media today so widely used the bullying doesn’t stop even when the victim is back in what should be the sanctuary of their own family home. Often it can go unnoticed, at least until it may be nearly too late. Every year it is estimated that around 20 children and adolescents commit suicide as a direct result of bullying, and it’s something that right now, right this minute, is devastating the lives of thousands of children.
According to Bullying UK’s 2006 National Bullying Survey:
- 69% of children in the UK report being bullied
- 87% of parents report that their child had been bullied in the past 12 months
- 20% report bullying others
- 85% had witnessed bullying
For nearly 30 years Kidscape has been working hard with children, schools, teachers, parents and those who work with children in a professional capacity, helping to provide the means to cope, to tackle the bullying and to provide children with the confidence to stand up again.