 Joe Calzaghe was bullied at school before turning to boxing |
Undefeated world champion Boxer Joe Calzaghe is among sports stars backing the launch of the Welsh arm of the anti-bullying charity Beatbullying. Athlete Jamie Baulch and rugby star Craig Quinnell will be at the launch of Beatbullying Wales in Cardiff later. Strictly Come Dancing's Calzaghe, who was bullied as a teenager, is already a patron of the national charity. Meanwhile, BBC Radio 1's Aled Haydn Jones will present a programme about being bullied while at school in Wales. Jones was bullied at his secondary school in Aberystwyth, but when listeners called his Sunday Surgery programme for advice on bullying, he felt the answers "turn the other cheek" and "walk away" would not have helped him. He set out to find out why he was bullied and what he could have done to stop it by returning to his old school to try to find some answers. His film, Bullying: Why Me? is screened on BBC Two Wales on Wednesday, 14 October at 1930 BST and is part of BBC Cymru Wales 'B Word' campaign.  |  For two years I was bullied, called names and ignored by former friends which turned me from a happy, out-going kid who enjoyed school and schoolwork, into an introverted wreck, detached from his studies and scared of his own shadow during school hours |
The charity Beatbullying Wales aims to help victims of the form of abuse with a range of strategies devised by young people. Calzaghe, from Newbridge, Caerphilly county, who has already helped launch the charity's UK-wide Cyber Mentors campaign, a social-networking site staffed by more than 700 youngsters who offer advice to their peers about bullying. The former world super-middleweight champion, who quit boxing this year after 46 unbeaten fights, is said to have been instrumental in setting up a Welsh arm of the charity. "Having been through bullying myself I know just how devastating an effect it can have on any child or teenager," he said. "It's that personal experience which makes me truly passionate about the work Bullybeating does in schools and communities. "The sooner peer-mentoring programmes, such as CyberMentors, can start educating kids in Wales, the better." In the past he described his misery at the hands of bullies. "For two years I was bullied, called names and ignored by former friends which turned me from a happy, out-going kid who enjoyed school and schoolwork, into an introverted wreck, detached from his studies and scared of his own shadow during school hours.  Aled Haydn Jones returns to Aberystwyth for his film on bullying |
"It was a very tough time for me. I bottled a lot of it up inside. It just goes to show if it can happen to me it can happen to anybody, it's nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. "I went into a shell, my personality changed. I used to hate going to school." He added: "I was the world champion for 11 years, I was the best fighter in the world, but I was also somebody who was bullied - it just goes to show it can happen to anyone. 'Respect not fear' Beatbullying has said that in a survey of 2,000 youngsters aged between 11 and 18, 56% admitted to being bullied online. Chief executive Emma-Jane Cross said: "Since Beatbullying launched in 1999, we've helped improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. "Ten years on and we still believe that young people have the power to shape the society we live in. "To be finally bringing this to Wales is a real honour and one I hope will change the face of education in the country." Beatbullying's Welsh launch will be held at Cathays High School.
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