Anyone can be a victim of bullying at any stage in life.
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For the victim it is traumatic and can often never be erased from their psyche.
Harming, intimidating or coercing an individual can be done by many means and the rise of social media use has done nothing to slow down the rates of bullying around the world.
According to Work Safe Australia, one in three women and one in five men who claim for a mental disorder stated it involved harassment or bullying.
Relationships Australia statistics from March last year indicate that 25 per cent of school students experience bullying at some stage during their time in school.
And a La Trobe University report this year found that 80 per cent of teachers have experienced some form of student or parent bullying or harassment over the past nine to 12 months.
Worrying statistics, and early intervention and education is the key to curbing the trend and teaching respect.
That's why Exeter High School should be congratulated for thinking outside the box to implement several initiatives that appear to be yielding great results.
Four years ago, the school began taking steps to understand how to improve its bullying and suspension rates.
For them, that work included controversially removing locker bays, reducing class sizes and moving to a model where all students only have two teachers for all classes. Since implementing the changes, the school has experienced a 68 per cent decrease in suspensions and has one of the lowest rates of relief teachers in Northern Tasmania.
Bullying and mental health are often in the headlines because they are a complicated issue that needs complicated solutions.
However, Exeter High School is an example that it might take out-of-the-box thinking, rather than relying on the methods we always fall back on.
At the end of the day, it's about teaching children about respectful relationships, something they will need throughout their lives, both during and beyond their schooling years.