Wendy (not her real name), from Yate, is 13 years old and is being bullied in school. She wrote to the School Gate to tell other victims to keep their head high and to tell somebody at once if they are being bullied.

"I am a victim of bullying and want to speak out about the problems bullying can cause. Bullying hurts me in many ways, it makes me feel afraid, anxious, scared, confused, depressed, dumb, angry and isolated. I feel stressed and scared to go to school. Some days I have to physically force myself to go to school so I don't let my education suffer.

I get threatened most days with boys saying they will put a bullet through my head and girls saying they will chop me up into cubed pieces. This is why I'm most frightened and it's eating me up inside. I get bullied in many ways, I get teased, socially excluded, physically bullied, cyber bullied and threatened. These things all happen to me every day. I feel that verbal bullying is worst as it all goes inside your head and you can't forget.

Some of my teachers who I go to for help just push me away. They say they will sort it out but it still happens and nothing seems to get done. Most of the time the bullies won't even let me into the classroom, they trip me up in the corridor and push me into walls. This is not what I go to school for, I go to school to learn and that's all I want to do. I don't go to school to be a target for the bullies. The bullying has made me scared to go out and made me scared of teenagers - which I know seems funny but it's not funny to me.

I feel all bullying, no matter what shape or form, should be dealt with. I have been helped by some teachers who at least listen. I feel that I have few friends but a small few listen to me. My parents have been extremely supportive in every way, I have also kept a diary as proof of what's happened. I have also imagined myself in a bubble where words bounce off which also helps.

I want to speak out to help others in my position and to tell them - be strong, hold your head up high and tell someone you trust as bullying is not acceptable and it's not the victim's fault."

Wendy, Yate