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A resource aimed at specifically helping families of children who are being bullied has been written by a leading expert in the subject.
Dr Emily Lovegrove is a consultant on bullying issues with local education authorities and hospitals such as Great Ormond Street in London and Seattle Children's in the US.
She wrote the book - Help! I'm Being Bullied - to help children who are being bullied and their parents.
It is based on her research and work with many hundreds of young people.
Whilst there are books aimed at teachers on this topic, Help! I'm Being Bullied is written with alternative chapters for adults and children, and provides a valuable self help guide for families to understand the reason why their children are being bullied - and the resources to help them stop it.
The book was written with youngsters in mind. It shows why kids get bullied and gives them the power to sort it out in positive ways that make them more popular.
It has been claimed that the strategies in the book have been successful with all kinds of bullying, whether a child is being targeted for their appearance, race or sexuality.
To help young readers, the book also has a cut out and keep card to remind children of the key strategies.
Figures released by a number of organisations in the run-up to Anti-Bullying Week show the need to address the problem in schools.
In the past year, almost a quarter of all calls - over 12,272 - to Childline Northern Ireland have related to bullying.
Department of Education Figures show that 43% of primary school children and 29% from post primary schools in Northern Ireland perceive they have been bullied at least once.
Learning disability charity Mencap has also revealed that eight out of 10 Ulster children with a learning disability have been bullied and six out of 10 children questioned had been physically hurt by bullies.
During the Belfast Telegraph's Anti-Bullying campaign, one Ulster mum told how her family endured two years of hell as her daughter suffered physical and verbal attacks by a classmate on a daily basis.
The Newtownabbey woman said the bullying only came to an end when her daughter transferred from primary to secondary school at the age of 11.
She described the helplessness she and her husband experienced as they struggled to help their daughter cope.
"I don't know why my daughter was picked on but the girl who bullied her was originally her friend," she said. "When your child is born you promise to do anything to protect them and we just felt so helpless."
How to beat the bullies
Tips for schools and pupils regarding mobile phone bullying
Mobile phone bullying generally involves sending threatening or upsetting text messages - and in the case of camera or video phones, sharing embarrassing and distressing video, such as happy slapping and other physical attacks, with other pupils or posting them online.
They are also used to make abusive or silent calls.
Make sure school policies cover the use of mobile phones on school premises. Policies should outline the rules and responsibilities of use, sanctions for misuse, and issues around confiscation and retention.
Never reply to abusive messages or phone calls.
Never delete - messages and phone logs should always be kept as evidence.
Turn off incoming text messages or hide behind voicemail. If that doesn't work, contact your service provider and change your number.
Tips for schools and pupils regarding email bullying
Email is used to send bullying or threatening messages, with the perpetrators often using a pseudonym or temporary hotmail account for anonymity, or even using email accounts that do not belong to them.
For the email bullies, this is easily done. Children and young people are particularly bad at protecting their passwords, or choosing suitably difficult ones, and many write their passwords down in places which other people can easily see.
Make sure school policies outline what constitutes acceptable use of email - and what does not - and that pupils know the rules.
Choose secure but memorable passwords and keep them safe.
Never reply to an abusive email.
Do not delete any abusive emails.
Tips for schools regarding website, blog and chatroom bullying
Social networking websites, blogs and chatrooms have provided new opportunities for cyber bullies.
The popularity of sites such as Facebook and Bebo have soared and it is now easier then ever before to post harmful comments or embarrassing or distressing videos.
The problem is exacerbated by bystander bullies - who spread the word in seconds by forwarding links to friends.
Educate pupils about the consequences of being a bystander bully and encourage them to be helpful bystanders by alerting an adult.
Make sure pupils know the dangers of giving out personal information in chatrooms and encourage them to stick to public areas.
Tips for creating memorable non-word passwords
Try using the first letter of a phrase that is easy to remember - this could even by a line from a favourite pop song, 'from sea to shining sea' which as a password would be fs2ss.
Add an extra letter, such as hhappy.
Add two words together with a number in the middle, such as fun4you.
