House of Commons - Education and Skills

Select Committee on Education and Skills Written Evidence

Memorandum submitted by Save the Children

INTRODUCTION

Save the Children is the leading UK charity working to create a better world for children. We work in many countries, including England, helping the most disadvantaged and socially excluded children. Our focus on child rights is underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Through our programme of work in education we concentrate on the most marginalised groups of children and young people, including those who are at risk of being excluded from school. Our work with refugee and asylum seeking children aims to give them a voice in a country where they often feel stigmatised and alone.

Save the Children welcomes this inquiry by the Select Committee into bullying and would like to raise a number of issues for consideration evidenced by our practice. We also undertook a short consultation with a group of refugee and asylum seeking children concentrating specifically on the terms of reference for this inquiry.

Save the Children is a member of the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

CONTEXT

The UNCRC states that children have the right to protection against discrimination, protection from being hurt and, help if they have been hurt or badly treated. [34]

Childline have stated that the majority of the calls they receive from children relate to bullying. Even children who are not being bullied often fear that they will be in the future[35],[36].

HOW BULLYING SHOULD BE DEFINED

It is important that children are clear about the definition of what constitutes bullying. Ofsted define bullying as: "aggressive or insulting behaviour by an individual or group, often repeated over time, that intentionally hurts or harms".

Experience from our Independent Education Advocacy Project (IEAP) in a primary school demonstrated that many of the children were unclear about what constituted bullying. Children repeatedly approached our development officer complaining of bullying when they had fallen out with a friend and yet those who were being bullied did not feel confident enough to tell the school or believe that the situation would improve.

It is therefore important that schools work with children to define bullying when drawing up anti-bullying policies. [37]This will ensure that all pupils are aware when they or others are bullied and are confident about the procedures to follow when complaining to a teacher.

An anti-bullying project undertaken by Save the Children in Hull[38] worked with pupils to identify different types of bullying. They highlighted: verbal abuse, physical and mental abuse and theft of money and possessions.

THE EXTENT AND NATURE OF BULLYING IN SCHOOLS

The 14 young refugee and asylum seeking young people we consulted have all experienced bullying since coming to England (Appendix A). In some cases the bullying is felt to be indirect in its nature, such as overhearing derogatory comments or being ignored. In other cases the bullying is much more overt and can include nasty texts and e-mails, physical attacks and racist abuse.

In our experience it is often children who are perceived to be "different" in some way who become the victim of bullies. Bullying is one of the main reasons that Gypsy and Traveller children drop out of school. Bullying towards these children is often not tackled by teachers because they themselves have little understanding of the children's culture and are therefore ill equipped to tackle such discrimination. Save the Children provides anti-discrimination training for professionals in the early years sector who come into contact with Gypsy and Traveller children. Evaluation of the sessions has highlighted that until they received training many practitioners were unaware of both the Traveller culture and the difficulties faced by these children in educational settings.

SHORT AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS

Young people we consulted highlighted the sense of isolation, fear and loneliness that result from bullying. They also felt that in the long-term children's education could be damaged, either because they were scared to do well and become the focus of unwanted attention or because they would not want to go to school due to fearing the bullies.

Bullying can have life changing consequences. Some young people have been excluded from school for retaliating against bullies[41]; this has led to them missing substantial periods of education and in some cases never returning to school[42].

TACKLING THE PROBLEM

It has been a legal requirement that all schools should have an anti-bullying policy since 1999 and in our experience the majority do. The creation of the Anti-Bullying Alliance and funding of anti-bullying co-ordinators has also gone some way to help tackle the problem. However, in our experience schools can have difficulty in implementing their strategies not least because bulling by its very nature can often mean that the only evidence schools have is the word of one pupil against another.

Teachers often receive little training focussed on how to deal with bullying in their initial teacher training and while local authorities and schools usually do their best there is often little budget left to invest in specific courses. [43]As highlighted by the young people we consulted it is essential that teachers receive adequate training so that they are well equipped to deal with complaints of bullying.

In relation to racist and homophobic bullying, training must include awareness of different cultures, races and sexuality. [44]

The current focus on both the SEAL[45] programme and citizenship education provides an ideal tool for working with children around issues of culture and sexuality as well as empathy for other children. Our consultation highlighted how important it is for schools to be seen to take action against racist bullying.

This is an issue of racial discrimination and it is imperative that children are shown that discrimination in all its forms is unacceptable.

We would also suggest that children in both faith schools and schools made up predominantly of a single race are give the opportunity to mix with children from other cultures via school linking projects. [46]

As a result of our anti-bullying project in Hull anti-bullying week was arranged within the school with a number of events taking place. By turning the issue into one that involved the whole school the children felt that "it teaches other people who haven't been bullied what it feels like to be bullied"[47].

Our experience has demonstrated that local authority and regional anti-bullying staff are very overstretched. This can mean that some schools get little or no support in developing and sharing good practice. It is important that all schools are given support to develop effective anti-bullying strategies and projects. There is much good practice already underway, such as mentoring and buddy schemes, friendship stops and pupil counsellors.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

1. It is important that schools work with children to define bullying when drawing up anti-bullying policies. Policies should make explicit that discrimination in all its forms is unacceptable.

2. It is essential that teachers receive adequate training so that they are well equipped to deal with complaints of bullying.

3. Children in both faith schools and schools made up predominantly of a single race should be given the opportunity to mix with children from other cultures via school linking projects.

4. All schools must be given support to develop effective anti-bullying strategies and projects, building on available examples of best practice.

FURTHER WORK

The refugee and asylum seeking children we consulted with on this issue have identified bullying as a priority area and would be happy to meet with members of the committee in the future to discuss these issues further. We are aware that there is little time to hear oral evidence for this inquiry, however should the committee wish to hear directly from some young people please do not hesitate to get in touch.

BACKGROUND

Brighter Futures is a network of young refugees and asylum seekers who want to improve the lives of other young people in similar situations by giving them a voice. Groups of young people meet in the Tees Valley, Manchester and London to:

— Discuss issues chosen by the young people.

— Plan activities.

— Socialise.

— Support each other.

— Collectively campaign.

The groups are supported and co-ordinated by staff from Save the Children's England programme.

The Tees Valley Group has identified racist bullying as their most important issue. The young people have produced a set of posters and post cards to raise awareness of the issues in local schools. They have also presented their views to a range of decision-makers including the Children's Commissioner for England, civil servants from the Home Office, MP's and Peers at a conference and seminar in London during April 2006. The group is currently producing a DVD to raise awareness of racist bullying in schools in the Tees Valley area.

CONSULTATION—19 SEPTEMBER 2006

  In the Tees Valley, Brighter Futures involves young people aged 14-17 years from Stockton on Tees, Redcar and Middlesbrough. Currently 14 young people regularly attend meetings at the Middlesbrough International Community Centre. All but two of the group are female and all but one arrived in the UK with family members. One young woman arrived unaccompanied and is living with foster parents. The countries of origin of the group are as follows:

—  Zimbabwe 10

—  Somalia 2

—  Congo 1

—  Burundi 1

The consultation took the form of an informal discussion with 3 members of staff in attendance.

EXTENT AND NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

We asked the group to give examples of the racist bullying they had experienced or witnessed:

— Over-hearing jokes that make you feel uncomfortable.

— They say we are from the jungle.

— Being judged by the way we look.

— Other people think they are better than us.

— Getting texts or MSN messages telling us to go home.

— Physical attack.

— Being called a terrorist.

— Being pushed out of the dinner queue.

— Being ignored by teachers.

— Asking for help and not being taken seriously.

— People shouting abuse in the street.

The group had all been subject to racism either at school or in the community, yet the young people's experiences at school depended on which school they attended. Some praised their school for dealing with racism/racist incidents but others felt isolated and even felt that teachers did not know how to deal with the issue. Some of the group were keen to mention that it is not only white people who are racist.

SHORT AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS

For many of the young, people racism was a relatively new experience. Some of the group only felt safe at home or in the library. They identified the following effects:

— Sense of isolation.

— Fear and loneliness.

— Fear to excel because you will become the focus of unwanted attention.

— Racist bullying hurts.

TACKLING THE PROBLEM

Suggestions included:

— Teacher training.

— Racism awareness across the whole school.

— Better mechanisms to deal with racist bullying in school such as mentoring schemes.

— Teachers to respond and take action on racist bullying.

— Show more films/educate people through the media about different cultures in the world—so we can learn to appreciate each other for our differences.

— More projects that help black and white young people to mix.

September 2006

34 Unitred Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Articles 2, 19 and 39. Back

35 Children and Domestic Violence in Rural Areas: A child-focussed assessment of service provision, Stalford, Baker & Beveridge, 2003. Back

36 Bread is Free, Save the Children, 2002. Back

37 Khan, J, Are You Talking to Me? Young People's participation in anti-bullying. East Sussex Council: 2006. Back

38 Foster, M, Reporting on an Anti-Bullying Pilot to Initiate a Culture Change, Save the Children: 2000. Back

39 Not her real name. Back

40 Alexander, J, Bullies, Bigmouths and So-called Friends. Hodder: 2006. Back

41 Khan, J, Missing Out on Education: Children and young people speak out, Save the Children: 2003. Back

42 Taylor, F, A Fair Hearing: Researching young people's involvement in the school exclusion process. Save the Children: 2005. Back

43 www.bullyonline.org Back