The campaign is running until the end of the month, and involves staff from all eight secondary schools in Moray, local community beat officers and community wardens who will all work closely together to raise awareness of this important issue.

In order to drum up support for the campaign, pupils are being encouraged to buy a purple and white rubber wristband at a cost of £1 to show support for the campaign. All profits will go towards the Childline charity, which funds a helpline for children in difficult situations who need to talk to somebody.

Posters and leaflets are being distributed in schools and police stations across the area in support of the campaign, and are being made available at local public buildings around the area.

While the leaflets give advice to parents and young people about the effects of bullying, they also target the bullies themselves by seeking to make them aware of how their actions amount to an act of bullying, which can have disastrous effects.

The aim of the campaign is to challenge young people to become more aware of how their actions and behaviour can affect the lives of others.

Constable Kevin Skivington, community beat officer for Forres, who is heading the campaign, was at the school on Friday for the launch of the initiative, which has been welcomed by all involved.

"Bullying is an aspect of life in today's society which tends, in the main, to go un-noticed," he said. "Schools already have policies in place to deal with bullying within schools, but there are no measures in place to deal with this form of anti-social behaviour away from the school."

He said that this initiative is designed to raise awareness of the issue and deal with it in a positive manner.

"We are all aware of anti-social behaviour such as vandalism, noise nuisance and street disorder," he said. "The message we would like to get out is that bullying is also a form of anti-social behaviour and can have a significant impact on the victim, both now and in the future."

The launch of the campaign was previewed in the 'Gazette' a few weeks ago by Fourth Year pupil and work experience student Ruth Mackenzie, who was at the school for the launch of the campaign on Friday.

She is urging anyone who is a victim of bullying to speak to someone, such as a teacher, about the issue. Meantime Grampian Police are urging people to report bullying by phoning them on 0845 6005700.

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