According to stopbullying.gov – Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school aged children (and also adults) that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both children and adults who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems. An extract from a poem to commemorate International Stand Up to Bullying Day on 19th November: Like a thorn in my side I’ve nowhere to h

Sunday 4th August is International Forgiveness Day: a day to reflect on forgiving and overlooking the wrongs that people have done to us. Easier said than done: forgive but never forget. Forgiving another person for the hurt they have caused you has a great impact on your own mental health, as you are not holding onto revenge, resentment and anger. Instead you will have peace, hope, gratitude and joy. The following poem I wrote several years ago: I don’t know if I was writin

I've been on this diet as long as I can remember, Well, if I’m being honest I started in 2012, December, two pieces of celery, and plenty of water, I'm sure I'm drinking rather more than I oughta. On reflection the newspapers and mags are the ones to blame, Putting all girls(people) into a ‘small’ category, saying we should all be the same, My thighs are big and so are my hips, I'm a full bodied girl (person) who has had enough of the water and celery sticks. (Extract from

The 4th -10th February is children’s mental health week. A time for reflection on the physical as well as the mental well being of young children. In this day and age when so many things can lead a child to have mental health issues it is good that events by Place2be are available. With the Mental Health curriculum due to begin next year it is of great concern that young people do not have all the resources to help them through their tough times. Many services have been cut

Bullying, unfortunately, has been happening since the beginning of time. Whether emotional, psychological, verbal or physical, it is not right that children and adults go through this pain everyday. 10th October is National Stop Bullying Day. A day for people to reflect on the way they talk and treat people and to be united in their respect for everyone. Bullying in schools accounts for a lot of self harming and depression and in some cases death by suicide for several chil

A United Nations sanctioned holiday for International World Peace, which has been celebrated since 1981, occurs on the 21st September. The day begins with the United Nations Peace Bell being rung at the UN headquarters – with the current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon being in attendance. Many years ago when I first became aware of wars, I wrote the following poem: I sometimes don’t feel the need for the world, I can’t keep up with the pace, If it were a united place, It woul

The 5th -11th February 2018 is Children's Mental Health week launched by Place2Be which gives support to children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. One in ten children and young people are affected by mental health with 70% of them not having appropriate interventions at an early age. This is one of the reasons why I wrote #whoami – young females and Why Shouldn't I Cry? – young males. I hope that one day all children will have the help they need to ov

With all the atrocities going on in the world, it can sometimes seem that living in my own bubble is nice. The floods and hurricanes around the world, endless wars, displaced people, famine, the list goes on. Some tragedies are down to 'nature' and several are by mankind. I sometimes avoid reading newspapers or watching television as the news is very depressing. Some of the leaders around the world are acting as if they are entering an alpha competition: posturing, seeing who

Today, for year six it is their last official day at primary school. They were once big fish in a little pond and come September, little fish in a massive ocean. Secondary school can be very scary, but also a wonderful experience. But before they get there, there is the Prom. For some, it is an overrated American thing that has been brought over here, for others it is a chance to dress up, look grown up and get driven around in a limo. I have had heard several parents, over t

Growing up I used to love going to my local youth club and as I got older, going to clubs: I love dancing with a passion. There were many of us who always went to the same place. I had one dance buddy, who, tragically, was killed whilst at work. His death, not the first that I had experienced, was heart wrenching, as he was the first person I knew, around my age to die violently. On hearing of his death, I went to work in the evening, but had to leave, as I wasn’t able to cop

Being one of the few African children at my school; my name was different and so were my hairstyles. I used to get called, Busy Biscuit, Bee Cee, Busy Wissy and Busy Wakinola. My hair was twisted with very strong, hair cotton and supposedly resembled Medusa. Not knowing who Medusa was at junior school, I got very upset and wanted to have hair like my friends. Luckily, I didn’t get into any fights, but looking back that was my first encounter with racism/bullying. Fortunately,

I have found that the negativity said or shown to me has created a lot of doubts in my head. I was once told that my bottom was too big and I should pull my shoulders back, in order for it to look smaller. I was about 9/10 years old. I did pull my shoulders back for a very long time and up until about eight years ago, I started to embrace and love the only body I will ever have. The ironic thing is, the lady who said that to me, was very overweight and had a very, very big bo