Student-Friendly Child-on-Child Abuse Policy

Feeling safe and happy at Brook Academy

At Brook Academy, we want to make sure that you feel looked after, safe and happy when you are in and out of school. Sometimes, we don’t know if something bad is happening, so you need to tell us. This policy looks at child-on-child abuse, and what you can do when you feel you are being abused, or when you notice someone else being abused.

We can help you by:

• Teaching you what child-on-child abuse
• Teaching you what to do if you feel like you are being abused, or if someone else is being
• Making sure you know the adults you can speak to if you are

What is child-on-child abuse?

Abuse is something which usually physically or emotionally hurts another person by using behaviour that is meant to scare, hurt or upset that person.

Sometimes, it can be hard to know when abuse is happening, because not all abuse will hurt, scare or upset you. It’s really important you know when you are being abused, so we can make sure it stops.

There are lots of different types of abuse. It is important you know what these types of abuse are, so you know what to do if you see them.

Child-on-child abuse is abuse that is from a child/group of children to another.

Bullying

Bullying can be different things and isn’t just hitting or kicking another person.

Emotional bullying is hurting someone’s feelings, leaving them out or bossing them about.

Physical bullying is punching, kicking, spitting, hitting or pushing someone.

Verbal bullying (saying/speaking/shouting) is teasing someone, calling them names or using rude hand signs. People can also use verbal bullying to be racist or homophobic.

Racist means bullying someone because of their skin

colour, race or what they believe in.

Homophobic means bullying someone because of their gender or sexuality; calling someone gay or lesbian to hurt their feelings would be homophobic.

Sexist means bullying someone because of their sex (whether they are a boy or a girl).

Cyber bullying involves sending horrid messages online, on social media or by text message.

Disablist means bullying someone because of a disability.

Bullying can be done through another person, by one person sending another person to say nasty things.

Youth Produced Imagery (SEXTING)

This is sending inappropriate pictures,videos or messages – they can sometimes be called ‘nude pics’, ‘rude pics’ or ‘nude selfies’, but can also be rude messages.

Pressuring someone into sending these pictures, videos and messages is abuse.

Even if you are not the person who is sending them, it is illegal to have these kind of pictures or videos of a person if they are under 18 years old.

Sexual Harassment

Sometimes, people can act sexually towards others, and it might make them feel uncomfortable.

This can happen online, on social media, through messages, and face–to-face. It might make someone feel scared, embarrassed, uncomfortable or upset. It could be:

• Someone making sexual comments, like telling sexual stories, saying rude things or saying sexual things about someone’s appearance or clothes.

• Calling someone sexual names.

Sexual jokes or teasing.

• Being physical, like touching which makes you feel uncomfortable, messing with your clothes, or showing pictures or drawings which are of a sexual nature.

• Being sexual online, like sharing sexual pictures and videos, or posting sexual comments on social media.
• It might also be sexual threats or pushing you to do something sexually that you don’t want to or aren’t ready for.

Relationships

Any relationship you have should be good and happy. A bad relationship might make someone feel scared, confused, worried, and even unsafe.

It’s really important that you know the difference between a good relationship and a bad relationship.

Good relationships:

• You are comfortable with that
• You can be honest with that
• You can say how you feel, what you are thinking, and you listen to each other.
• You support each other and treat each other nicely.
• You feel safe.
• You trust that
• You are equal – you don’t boss each other around or tell each other what to do.
• You feel looked after.

Bad relationships:

• The person might push you, hit you, destroy or take/touch your
• The person might tell you what to do, what to wear, or who you can
• You might feel scared – they might say they will hurt you if you don’t do They might also say they will hurt you if you do something too.
• The person calls you names, makes you feel bad in front of other people, and makes you feel bad about yourself.
• The person gets angry easily and you don’t know what will make them angry – it might make you feel nervous.
• The person might pressure you to do things you don’t want to or aren’t ready for, like sex, or using drugs and alcohol.

• The person might not take no for an answer when you say you don’t want to do something.

What do I do if someone else is being abused?

If you see someone else being abused, it is important that you help that person.

You should never walk way and ignore the problem if you see someone else being abused, because the person might keep upsetting them.

If you can, and it is safe to do so, tell the person abusing you to stop but never get angry or hit them.

Tell an adult, such as a teacher, as soon as you’ve seen someone being abused. Grown-ups can stop the abuse and make that person feel happy again.

What do I do if I am being abused?

The first thing you should do is tell someone you trust. This could be a family member, a friend, or a teacher.

You can also tell the person abusing you to leave you alone. If telling them to leave you alone would make you feel too scared or worried that they might hurt you, make sure you tell someone so they can help.

Always remember that if you are being abused, it is not your fault, and you are never alone.

You shouldn’t be scared to talk to someone if you are being abused. If you talk to an adult, we can make the abuse stop.