According to the Canadian Red Cross, about one in five kids are bullied in Canada, often on school grounds. But, a major study in Ontario indicates that teachers are aware of only a small percentage of bullying incidents, making intervention difficult.

When it comes to homophobic bullying in York Region's schools, there have also been recent cases reported to schools and the school board, where effective intervention could and should have occured but didn't.

So if you are being bullied, or you know about bullying that is happening at your school, we have an action plan for you.

Firstly, check out:

If you can't deal with the problem quickly yourself, you MUST tell someone - ideally your parents or another trusted adult.

Ask your parents or trusted adult to contact:

It's essential that you should report homophobic bullying and abuse. To find out why you should do this and to learn how to report these problems, check out our:

At GayYorkRegion, we understand that you might be unwilling to tell anyone that you are a victim of homophobic bullying, because you may fear that it would reveal or create suspicion about your sexuality. So if you're in this type of situation and don't feel comfortable about telling anyone you know, then you can either:

We promise that your situation will be dealt with delicately and confidentially, to help you find a solution.

Lastly, whatever the situation, always remember that school is not forever. We hope that your problem can be resolved quickly, but even in the very worst case it will be resolved on the day you graduate. Life will get better.

If it has been reported to school staff but they are not responding effectively, please tell us. We need to know where this type of problem is occurring and may be able to provide advice. But, we will treat anything you tell us as confidential information and will not get directly involved without your express consent. To contact us you can either:

If you witness bullying problems, you should report them to the police. Even if the situation does not seem too serious, it needs to be dealt with before it gets worse. So don't hesitate to contact the York Regional Police Hate Crime Hotline:

Or you can report problems anonymously by contacting York Region Crime Stoppers:

Crime Stoppers takes information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Calls are not recorded and no one involved with Crime Stoppers knows the identity of the callers. Crime Stoppers does not have call display.

Please also post comments or a negative rating for your school in our: