Starting the Group
Understand what it is. A defenders group, or anti-bullying group is a group of people who have a duty to help and support someone going through bullying by giving advice and providing a safe space away from bullies.
Speak to your head teacher about it. Your head teacher can help you organize it and they will have a better knowledge of the school and how to do it.
Come up for a name for your group. An easy name is (Name of school) Defenders.
Find a place in the school to do it. Decide on a quiet anti-bullying zone in the school with prefects to make sure it's safe. Decide on a classroom where the defenders will stay so that victims can find them.
Get people to join the defenders group. The more defenders you have, the easier the job will be. Know who to pick. Don't hire someone who is nasty/badly behaved. Also, make it clear that you have to be a certain age to do it. Younger ones might be willing to help but they might not be suitable picks.
Create a timetable. Make sure that everyone has about two times a week to do the job and at any time, there is at least three defenders working. Ask people what time would be best for them. Make sure they turn up. If they frequently 'forget,' have a word with them about it and make sure they arrive in the future.
Make sure that people are being responsible in their job and that they arrive. If they continuously be irresponsible, sack them. People won't want to talk about their problems to them.
Raising Awareness
Have an assembly/presentation about it. Make sure the presentation is well-written and organised so that it looks professional; otherwise, it may not be taken seriously. Assemblies are a great way to promote ideas, as the whole school is usually there, as well as teachers who may be interested in supervising.
Make posters to put around the school. Add in the following details: What the School Defenders group is. Where it is based. Reasons to visit, e.g. to help out or to seek advice. What teachers are supervising the group. It's important to have at least one teacher supervising any club or group, so make sure you include what teacher(s) is responsible. When you can visit.
Promote the club within certain departments. For example, if your school has a Learning Support area, you can ask them if it's okay to associate this club with the department. If they allow this, you can also ask them if it's okay to base the club in the area.
Advertise the club in the school newsletter or in the daily bulletin. This way, many students will learn about the idea.
Tell people about the benefits of joining. Joining or running clubs and volunteering are great ways to jazz up your CV, and make you stand out from other candidates. Try to persuade people to join the group, but also make clear the requirements, such as being a certain age.
Being a Good Defender
Volunteer yourself. Creating and running clubs falls under extra-curricular activities and makes you stand out, especially if it's for a good cause. If you want to volunteer to be a school defender, make sure you have good qualities, such as having good knowledge of the school's anti-bullying policy, being patient, being trustworthy, being mature, and who to speak to if the issue is serious, e.g. senior staff members.
Give good advice. Don't tell them to do something wrong. These people look up to you. Give serious advice. Tell them what they can do to stop it happening. Share anti-bullying lines like Childline, which they can contact. Remind them that the defenders are there if they ever need to see you again.
Never ever share what they told you. Only do so if they are at risk. Everything between you and someone seeking advice should be confidential unless it is absolutely necessary to involve someone else into the issue for a legitimate reason. People will come to you with issues and they expect you to be fully trustworthy.
Don't make them feel worse about themselves. That goes without asking. The moment you start being mean, the moment they won't want to come back. If another defender is being mean, speak to them about the way they should communicate with others.
Be patient. At first, not many people will arrive, but as long as you spread the message around, victims will probably arrive sooner or later. If nobody is there, don't quit. Keep the group going so that they know you and the group are there for them if they need you. If nobody is there, just read or talk quietly so you aren't bored. Don't be loud and muck about. That isn't a good first impression and they might change their mind.
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