Bullying in Schools

Bullying in schools remains to be a problem in Britain as recent research undertaken by the Anti-Bullying Alliance found that 1 in 4 children are verbally bullied with the majority of these children being bullied in school.  

I think that most people including myself  have had some sort of experience of bullying whether they have been bullied, have bullied themselves or as a bystander. Some people go so far to say that it is merely part of human nature and will never go away. Nevertheless victims describe feelings of isolation and intimidation and research published by the DFE (Department for Education) shows that many children suffer long term psychological damage from bullying.  Its findings also suggest that bullying can be associated with lower achievement in schools and 15% of children who said they had been bullied had self harmed.

Research carried out by a leading anti bullying charity Beat Bullying suggests that 44% of suicides of children between the ages of 10 – 14 living in the UK are linked to bullying.

These figures show just how much of a problem bullying is in the UK which is why councils, schools and various organisations work together to continually strive to combat bullying. They endeavour to make it easier for victims to seek help, educate bystanders to offer help effectively and by raising awareness to pupils that bullying is unacceptable.

Unfortunately this is not always the case and there are many cases where schools have been accused of being in denial that any bullying goes on in their school. Because of this complaints from victims and parents are often ignored.

"Over the past 20 years some schools have adopted a 'No Blame' approach, in which the teacher who intervenes in the bullying avoids blaming anyone for the problem, based on the assumption the bullies themselves actually want the bullying to stop, rather than getting them to face up to - and accept - the consequences of their wrongdoings to other children." Quote taken from a Kidscape Charity press release.

As research suggests that most bullying with children occurs in school, it is also important that all schools adopt anti bullying policies and make sure that teachers identify problems and react effectively.

Here is a package I produced about the effects of bullying and what Liverpool city council, schools and organisations are doing to tackle the problem.




Cyber Bullying

With young people becoming accustomed to the everyday use of modern technology and  social media growing there has been an inevitable rise in cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying describes a type of bullying which occurs via the internet or mobile phone

Recent research conducted by the Anglia Ruskin University found that nearly one in five youngsters in the UK have been subjected to cyber bullying.

Unlike bullying in schools it is hard to get away from cyber bullying as a young person could be getting messages sent to their phone or computer at home. Therefore victims can be extremely isolated and unable to turn to anybody for help.

Last year a teenage boy from Birmingham Tom Mullaney commited suicide after he endured a barrage of insults and threats via social networking site Facebook. Since his death Tom's parents have campaigned to bring in laws in order to make cyber bullying illegal.

Toms father said "We need a starting block. A piece of legislation saying cyber bullying is an illegal act. Kids don't understand what they do on Facebook has consequences. In our case I lost my son."

Quote taken from BBC News.

As cyber bullying is not covered in my package I have included extended versions of three interviews in which interviewees talk about cyber bullying. Here the interviewees talk about the problems of cyber bullying.

Kayte Eaton is the co - ordinator of Liverpool charity Bullybusters. She talks about the increase of cyber bullying and its effects.




Peter Banks runs Broadgreen International Schools anti bullying strategies. He talks about how the school is trying to combat cyber bullying



MarkFitzsimons is the lead councillor for Liverpool City Council's anti bullying scheme. He talks about what the council are doing to tackle bullying and gives advice for victims and parents.

Here are some contacts for help and advice about bullying:-

Bullybusters Free Helpline -   0800 169 6928

Kidscape Parents Anti Bullying Helpline  - 08451205 204

 Childline - 0800 1111

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)Provides help and advice on cyberbullying, the Centre maintains a website for children and young people, and parents and carers about staying safe online.