WIREDGOV

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker today announced that DCSF will continue its investment in Beatbullying's CyberMentors programme, with a further £1million. The service has engaged over 400,000 young people who were looking for support and advice from people their own age to cope with bullying. 

The internet offers young people a world of opportunities, and can be a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. However, we know that bullying has evolved with bullies using new technologies, particularly mobile phones and the internet to cause harm.

Cyberbullying is completely unacceptable and can have a devastating affect on people’s lives. The Government is committed to working with industry and charities like Beatbullying, to keep young people safe online. At the heart of our Click Clever, Click Safe campaign is arming young people with the support and advice they need to stay happy and safe online.

The CyberMentors programme has been a tremendous success and it gives young people the help they need to stamp out cyberbullying with support from trusted people their own age. With the additional investment from the Government, the CyberMentors programme can continue to improve the lives of thousands of young people.

This has been a milestone year for Beatbullying: as the Department for Children, Schools and Families generously continues its investment in our pioneering CyberMentors programme we look back on the last 12 months and marvel at how far we’ve come. 

In the last year alone we have trained over 4000 CyberMentors and launched a successful advertising campaign, as well as high profile celebrity partnerships and awareness initiatives.

When Gordon Brown launched the CyberMentors.org.,uk site in March 2009 we knew there was a need for a safe online space for young people to go to for support.

With one in three young people experiencing bullying both off and online we knew our youth were crying out for a place populated by other young people where they could access advice and support from people their age.

We were overwhelmed by a staggering 400,000 troubled people all coming to the site looking for a place to talk.

We’ve found they talk not only about bullying but also other well-being issues such as mental health concerns, self harm, body image and all the daily anxieties of youth.

The continued investment of CyberMentors is a critical move by the Government; enabling Beatbullying to train thousands of more CyberMentors to continue the positive cycle of advice and help spread the anti-bullying message across schools and communities in this country.