Tigers help with tackling bullying
PUPILS from Hinckley Academy have been learning about how to tackle bullying with Leicester Tigers.
Players Dom Barrow, Ben Betts and George Worth shared videos about their experience of bullying, and offered advice for youngsters at the Butt Lane school.
They were there during Anti-Bullying Week to present the new Give Bullying the Boot campaign, along with club partner Aggregate Industries.
Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils at the academy took part, listening to talks and sharing their own experiences through a questionnaire.
The programme was delivered to more than 600 children through 19 sessions across four Leicestershire schools, as part of the Concrete Rugby initiative.
Just over half of those surveyed across the four schools said they had suf- fered some form of bullying, with more than two thirds of them experiencing bullying in the last year.
Concrete Rugby champions a healthy lifestyle, team work and self-confidence in young people, through the introduction of key rugby skills to secondary school students.
Darren Grewcock, mas- ter of Rugby at Hinckley Academy and former Tigers scrum half, said: “The rugby philosophy and values are a great way to relate with kids as they grow up.
“Concrete Rugby not only helps direct the pupils to channel rugby but also ties in with schools’ principles towards safeguarding and bullying, so fit.”
Chris Rose, head of Brand at Leicester Tigers, said: “What really came out of our sessions was the variety of different guises that bullying can take.
“It isn’t just about physical or mental abuse, but can be something as unobvious as ignoring somebody or leaving them it’s an ideal out of a group.
“Bullying is not okay and by speaking out and standing strong, we want to encourage pupils to help alleviate this very real issue in UK schools.”
For more information about Give Bullying the Boot and the Concrete Rugby programme, visit the Leicester Tigers website.