Rugby heroes and fans blow whistle on bullies

A rough, tough rugby team may seem an unusual ally in the fight against bullying, but the Bay of Plenty Steamers are right on board the latest initiative.

At an open training session yesterday, the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union and Te Waiariki Purea Trust launched their new joint initiative, called No One Likes a Bully, to a group of primary school students from the Rotorua area.

The campaign aims to teach children about the different kinds of bullying and what to do if they find themselves in a situation where they, or someone else, are being bullied.

Waikite Valley School student and Junior Steamer Cohen Smith, 11, was excited to learn tips and skills from his role models.

When asked why he wanted to see the Steamers, Cohen had a simple answer - "Because they're rugby players".

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"I'm a Junior Steamer, I love putting posters up on my wall with pictures of them and they gave me tips and stuff."

Cohen thought the anti-bully message was "interesting".

"They [the bullies] do it just to feel good about themselves and show off. No one likes a bully, they're trying to be tough and cool and make everyone else scared of them.

"I think it's pretty cool that the Steamers get to help out with bullying and teasing and stuff like that."

Te Waiariki Purea Trust programme co-ordinator, Ariana Smith, said the anti-bullying campaign had been running in Tauranga for three years and they wanted to do something similar for Rotorua.

She said the trust had previously partnered with the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union on similar projects, a "great relationship" as both organisations had significant involvement in the community and similar aims.

"The Steamers go into schools and rugby clubs to speak about the Blow the Whistle on Violence campaign which was highly successful. We adopted this in Rotorua; it's a great partnership by using rugby to get the message into the community - everybody loves rugby."

Ms Smith said the rugby union was involved with anti-violence and bullying campaigns as part of their involvement with the community. She said they even had a white ribbon on the backs of their jerseys, the symbol of a worldwide protest fighting violence against women.