School & college can be fun, but some young people have problems there, especially if they are struggling to look after someone at home while trying to get their school work done as well. Find out what to do if you are getting bullied and how teachers can help you.

School problems

It can be hard to talk to teachers. You might be worried that they will:

• Interfere in your home life or talk about you to other people.
• Not listen to you or not help.
• Show you up in front of your friends.

But it is every teacher’s job to help you get the most out of school. You might get told off at school a lot at the moment because you get angry with people, hand work in late or miss lots of days off school when you are looking after someone. If the teachers know that you are looking after someone at home, they may be more understanding and try to help.

How can teachers help me?

You could ask them to:

• Give you extra time to hand work in when the person you are looking after is ill.
• Let you use the school phone or your mobile to call the person you are looking after without having to explain why each time.
• Go in to lunch early if you need to get home at lunchtime.
• Do detentions inside school time so that you can get home to look after someone.
• Help your parents get to parents’ evenings if they have trouble leaving the house.
• Not ask you about your home life when other people are listening.
• Give people lessons about disability, mental health problems or drug/ alcohol problems but don’t let other people in the class know about your home life.
• Help you if you are getting bullied.

EMAIL: youngcarers@harrowcarers.org

Tel: 020 8868 5224