Battle to beat the bullies in schools (From Stroud News and Journal)

Battle to beat the bullies in schools

TWO Stroud men - one a former bully, the other his victim - are showing how it's possible to move on from bullying and become friends.

Brendan Conboy and Martin Pearson, both 45, have spoken out this week about their teenage experiences as part of National Anti-Bullying Week, which runs from Monday November 21 till Friday November 25.

Thirty years ago when the two men were15 year-old pupils at Marling School, Brendan, who now runs the Door Youth Project on Gloucester Street in Stroud, admits treating Martin badly.

He said: "I wasn't very nice when I was younger and it's not something that I'm proud of. To stop bullying we need to address the issues surrounding the bullies as well as the victims themselves and look at why they do it."

Brendan, who now knows how his behaviour affected his victims, said: "Now I would like to apologise to all the people I offended over the years."

Martin, who is leader of the Stroud Christian Fellowship, of which Brendan is now a member, said: "We wanted to show that there is a way forward from bullying and that you can't let your past dictate your future.

"It also shows the power of forgiveness because if you choose not to forgive the bully you will always let them have power over you, but if you forgive them then you take back control of your own life."

Martin urged other victims of bullying to speak out. He added: "People who are bullied feel their self worth is destroyed, but by talk to someone you can take back some of that control."

From 3pm till 5pm every day this week a series of events and workshops have been organised at the Door to raise awareness of bullying.

Archway school are also marking the week with competitions and classes look at the issues surrounding bullying. On Friday the school are holding Blue Day, when the teachers the school will be decorated in blue, to mark the end of the week.

Assistant head teacher Rick Rutter, who is in charge of Student support at the school said: "We want to let the pupils know the most important thing is that they tell someone what is happening so we can do something about it.

"I think National Bullying Week is really important because we know that it's prevalent in society in work places and other institutions as well as schools. The more we talk about it the easier it will be to deal with it."