Memorandum submitted by the Office of
the Children's Commissioner
1. EVIDENCE TO
THE EDUCATION
AND SKILLS
SELECT COMMITTEE:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 Bullying infringes children's rights
and blights childhoods. For those caught in bullying situations,
the impacts on health, safety, educational attainment, positive
social engagement and economic wellbeing are serious and may be
severe. Children and young people consistently rate it as the
most important personal safety issue facing them, and consistently
call on policy makers to take action to prevent and manage it.
1.2 We know from international research
that anti-bullying programmes in schools can reduce conflict if
applied consistently over time. Although an inconsistent and incomplete
evidence base in this country hampers policy development and performance
management, it appears that multi-faceted anti-bullying programmes
are beginning to reduce the level of the problem.
1.3 We know that bullying in schools reflects
patterns of prejudice and discrimination in wider society, so
that children who can be construed as "outsiders" are
more likely to face attack. BME groups and those who identify
themselves, or are identified as lesbian or gay, for example,
face greater risks than their peers. Other at risk groups include
children in care, travellers, children with disabilities and children
with Special Educational Needs. The dynamics of bullying are such
that most children may be vulnerable at some point, and that roles
in bullying situations—bully, assistant, reinforcer, outsider,
defender, victim—may be interchangeable.
1.4 From talking to children and young people
about their experiences, we know that bullying can feel overwhelmingly
threatening and humiliating. Physical injury, or fear of it, is
one aspect of a range of threats to the child's wellbeing. We
know that victims of bullying often take unauthorised absences
and are less likely to stay in full time education; and bullies
too face the risk of suspension or exclusion. Disengagement from
education, especially when combined with low self-esteem as we
find in some victims of bullying, may increase the likelihood
of risk-taking behaviour such as unprotected sex or substance
abuse. Poor academic performance in turn has a direct bearing
on young people's chances of employment and economic success.
There is some evidence that bullies whose aggression goes un-challenged
are more likely than their peers to go on to criminal offending.
1.5 Bullying takes a myriad of forms, some
of which will be difficult for adults to detect directly. Cyber
bullying is one such covert means of victimisation. Unless children
and young people are actively involved in shaping and implementing
anti-bullying strategies, interventions are likely to be blunt
and ineffective. Children and young people's involvement is key
to developing the trust, responsibility and empathy that will
inform any successful strategy.
1.6 Many local authorities are investing
considerable energy and leadership in tackling bullying, and where
local co-ordinators are established, a valuable knowledge base
is building and there are signs of progress. The Healthy Schools
Programme is providing a useful inter-disciplinary framework and
challenge. The Commissioner is encouraged by the early, positive
impact on behaviour of embedding children's rights principles
in schools, particularly where linked with teaching materials
and techniques intended to promote empathy and responsibility,
such as SEAL and R-Time.
1.7 When the Children's Commissioner asked
children and young people what works against bullying, they highlighted
the need for adults to be knowledgeable and proactive and for
their own experience and learning to be integral to any strategy:
— Pick it up early, before it spreads.
— Ensure through training that teachers
and inspectors do not collude with bullying.
— Teach about diversity and equality.
— Do not rely on victims to approach
adults before intervening.
— Use the experience of young people
in peer support programmes.
— Teach techniques for calming down
and being resilient.
— Treat young people's information
with care.
— Work with children and young people
to change bullying behaviour.
— Build groups that form friendship
outside of school.
— Involve children and young people
and their parents in finding solutions and resolving bullying.
1.8 Inconsistent recording and reporting
of incidents has hampered performance management, and many local
authorities are only now in the process of establishing baselines
against which the problem can be assessed. The Commissioner therefore
repeats his call for maximising interagency and specialist support
for schools, and for conducting annual school surveys to establish
the extent of the problem.
1.9 Case evidence suggests that the current
arrangements through which parents and carers can complain about
schools' treatment of bullying do not enjoy broad confidence,
and in some cases undermine the principle of home-school partnership
which should underpin effective anti-bullying programmes. At the
invitation of the Secretary of State, the Children's Commissioner
is currently reviewing bullying complaints procedures, and will
be making recommendations by the end of 2006.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 The Children's Commissioner for England
welcomes the Education Select Committee's decision to inquire
into bullying in schools. Bullying has been the greatest single
concern reported to us by children and young people, and bullying
is therefore one of the Children's Commissioner's twelve priority
areas.
2.2 The role of the Children's Commissioner
for England was established in the Children Act 2004 to provide
an independent, national voice for all children and young people,
especially the disadvantaged and vulnerable. Professor Sir Albert
Aynsley-Green was appointed in June 2004 as the first Commissioner.
The Children's Commissioner has the general function of promoting
awareness of the views and interest of children in England. This
is a broad and strategic remit that gives him flexibility over
which matters he wishes to consider. In carrying out this function
he works within the framework of the five outcomes described in
Every Child Matters. He must also have regard to the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
3. DEFINITIONS
3.1 Bullying is not a specific offence in
United Kingdom law. Some European countries, and 19 American states
have enacted legislation penalising peer-to-peer bullying in schools,
but criminal actions in the UK must be on the grounds of specific
breaches of the criminal law such as "threatening behaviour"
(section 4, Public Order Act 1986), or harassment (Protection
from Harassment Act 1997).
3.2 Bullying is not defined by age. Though
prevalence and behaviour change, bullying is far from being a
specifically a childhood phenomenon. In fact, there are clear
links between the amount of adult aggression to which children
are exposed and their involvement in bullying behaviour (see 5.3).
3.3 Since the late 1970s, bullying among
children has been the focus of considerable international research
and policy development. Most definitions of bullying include all
or most of the following elements:
— Intentional hurtfulness.
— Abuse of power (asymmetric conflict).
3.4 These are included in what is probably
the most comprehensive definition, by the Australian academic
Ken Rigby:
Bullying involves a desire to hurt + hurtful
action + a power imbalance + (typically) repetition + an unjust
use of power + evident enjoyment by the aggressor and generally
a sense of being oppressed on the part of the victim.1
3.5 The "hurtful action" can take
numerous forms, such as name calling, verbal abuse, spreading
of rumours, malicious use of communications technology, ostracising,
attacks on property or persons. These can be conducted one-to-one,
or a group may persecute an individual.
3.6 However encompassing and generally satisfying
the definition finally adopted, some of its key elements have
margins of ambiguity that complicate implementation at practitioner
level. The elusiveness of a psychological intent to inflict hurt
and the absence of traditional power imbalances in cases of indirect
bullying, for example, can render identification and management
problematic.2 Distinctions between bullying and other types of
aggression are not always meaningful to young children,3 and the
requirement for repetition does not always meet young people's
needs or expectations.4
3.7 Agreeing ownership for a workable definition
is one of the key elements in establishing and implementing an
anti-bullying policy, whether within a particular institution
or across a community. Children and young people's involvement
is crucial, as is the definition's simplicity. A formula agreed
by Leicestershire's anti-bullying team uses an acronym: bullying
is where another child does something nasty to you:
3.8 Bullying definitions sit within wider
behaviour frameworks, which in turn influence how it is understood.
The Every Child Matters outcomes framework has had a significant
impact by associating bullying clearly with discrimination:
Stay Safe—Aim: Children and young people
are safe from bullying and discrimination.
Making a Positive Contribution—Aim: Children
and young people develop positive relationships and choose not
to bully or discriminate.
3.9 The linkage provides insight into the
relational dynamics driving many bullying situations, and acknowledges
the disproportionate victimisation of BME, disabled and other
minority, "outsider" groups. This is constructive in
shaping preventative strategies, and helpfully situates personal
choices and behaviours in a broader social context where other
anti-discriminatory strategies and curriculum operate. However,
caveats need to be considered. Bullying detects and punishes "difference",
but it also creates it. For example, many bullying situations
arise out of broken friendships, especially in the case of girls,
and in these situations the victim is driven from the position
of intimate to that of outsider. Adult anti-discriminatory frameworks,
as commonly used, are likely to miss the diversity and subjectivity
of children's distinctions. Some differences that give rise to
vulnerability can be identified with a degree of confidence, others
cannot. The views of primary school pupils in Leicestershire about
why they were bullied illustrate the complications:
"Because I have glasses."
"Because I haven't got friends and I'm not
British."
"I was rubbish at football."
"Because I am different."
"My colour and religion."
"Because I was new in the school."
"I don't really know because I didn't do
anything to them."
"Because of clothes and the property that
I owned."5
3.10 The Children's Commissioner would wish
to see bullying understood and tackled in a children's rights
framework. It is an act of persecution which, depending on its
form, will engage one or several of the Articles of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Article 16—"no child shall be subjected
to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy,
family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his
or her honour and reputation"—eg spreading rumours.
Article 19—"States Parties shall take
all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational
measures to protect the child from all forms of mental violence,
injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment
or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of
parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care
of the child" eg physical or verbal bullying.
Article 28 (1) —(e) "take measures
to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of
drop-out rates" eg victims of bullying self-excluding.
Article 28 (2) —"States Parties shall
take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline
is administered in a manner consistent with the child's human
dignity" [and in conformity with the UNCRC] eg ensuring treatment
of bullies and those who are bullied under anti-bullying policies
is not degrading or humiliating.
Article 29 (d) —Education should include
"the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free
society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality
of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and
religious groups and persons of indigenous origin" eg discriminatory
bullying.
Article 37 (a) —"no child shall be
subjected to torture, or other inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment" eg bullying by teachers.
Article 39—"States Parties shall take
all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form
of physical neglect, exploitation or abuse; torture or any other
form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or
armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place
in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity
of the child" eg the health consequences of bullying and
the need for help through appropriate specialist services such
as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
4. EXTENT AND
NATURE OF
BULLYING IN
SCHOOLS:
4.1 Definitive statistics on the extent
of bullying in English schools are elusive. In part, this is due
to difficulties in agreeing a common language, common thresholds
and common reporting measures and periods. In part, this is due
to children and young people's reluctance to report their persecution.
A survey of young people in Bedfordshire in 2004 found that 28%
of boys and 22% of girls said that they would keep any worries
about bullying to themselves.6 Even given these difficulties,
the lack of systematic reporting and sustained large-scale research
is disappointing and should be addressed.
4.2 Specialists usually put the proportion
of children subject to bullying at any one time at around 10-20%,
but some studies find that more than 50% of children or young
people report having been subjected to bullying at some point.
In a Home Office study of youth crime in 2000, 33% of 12-16-year-olds
reporting having been bullied at school in the previous year.7
A study by Young Voice in 2001 found that over half 13-19-year-olds
had been bullied.8 A cross national study in 2001 found that 12.2%
of English 10-14-year-olds had been bullied in the previous six
months.9 Research for the DfES in 2003 reported that more than
50% of Primary School children and more than 25% of secondary
school children said they had been bullied in the past year. 10
4.3 Local surveys tend to fall within the
higher end of this range. A 2005 study of Cheshire students in
years 7, 8 and 9 found that 37% had been bullied in the current
school year. 11 Importantly, variation between schools, including
schools in apparently similar circumstances, can be substantial.
Oliver and Candappa's research for DfES in 2003 revealed that
in year 8, the proportion of pupils who reported having been bullied
varied by school from 17%-52%.
4.4 Children and young people consistently
report a high level of concern about bullying in terms of their
personal safety and emotional wellbeing. In research for its Children
and Young People's Plan in 2006, Solihull found that 26% of secondary
school age students were sometimes afraid to go to school because
of bullying. 12 Research in Cumbria in 2003 found that 46% of
girls in years 5 and 6 were sometimes frightened of going to school
because of bullying. 13 A survey of secondary school age children
in Bath and North East Somerset in 2005 asked "What would
make the biggest difference to your life?"; 36% said less
bullying. 14 Consultation with children and young people in Doncaster
to inform their Children and Young People's Plan showed that "by
far the greatest concern to children and young people is the issue
of bullying, often by their peers, sometimes by older children."
15 From April 2005—March 2006, Childline received 37,032
calls about bullying, and another 4,018 which were mainly about
other issues, but went on to discuss bullying as a problem. This
constituted 23% of all calls, making it children's biggest single
cause of concern (as it has been for the last nine years). The
Children's Commissioner set up a competition in 2005 to invite
children and young people's views on what issues were most important
to them. Online feedback identified bullying as an issue for 55%
of those who entered, making it the single most significant single
area of concern. 16
4.5 Although it is difficult to arrive with
certainty at levels of school bullying, research consistently
shows that its prevalence and nature changes by age. Bullying
increases during primary years, peaking at around age 10, then
declines steadily. 17 Younger children are much more likely to
use physical violence than older children, for whom indirect and
relational means are more common.
Racist Bullying
4.6 Racist bullying is relatively under-researched,
though evidence suggests that a serious problem exists. A study
in 1994 of 6,000 children found that 17.4% of boys and 18.1% of
girls in primary schools, and 12.1% of boys and 6.3% of girls
in secondary schools had been called nasty names "about my
colour".18 A survey of bullying in Islington in 2001 found
that 29% of those who had been victims of bullying had been racially
insulted. 19 Research with young travellers in Cambridgeshire
in 2005 revealed that 36% had been bullied while at school, and
a subsequent project documented the severity of much this persecution:
— Sometimes they would [...] put things
in my hair, spit on me and hit me. One person hit me so hard that
I thought I'd break my cheek. They also took my money.
— I was bullied from my first day at
school. Not just by the children, but by the teachers too. I got
called all sorts of names like "Gypsy", "smelly",
"tramp", "no good", and "pig". I
had children throw stones at me, pinch me and punch me.
— Once [my children] came home beaten
up, their coats wet with urine. The bullies had taken their coats
into the school toilets and urinated on them. 20
4.7 Broader research published in 2001 supports
the suggestion that where BME children experience bullying, it
is twice as likely to be severe. 21 Moreover, bullying incidents
are a subset of the indirect and direct racist hostility which
BME children are likely to experience in a number of situations.
These bullying attacks may therefore amplify a broader experience
of rejection, and impact a child's sense of cultural as well as
personal worth.
Homophobic Bullying
4.8 Evidence of homophobic bullying, mainly
through small scale studies, suggests that children and young
people identified as lesbian or gay face a higher risk of victimisation
than their peers. A Stonewall study of lesbian and gay men's experience
of violence in 1996 found that 24% of respondents under 18-years-old
had been violently attacked by fellow students (cited Adams et
al, 2004). Research in Northamptonshire secondaries in 2003 found
that 64% of year 9 and 10 students had seen other students being
homophobically bullied, and 26% had themselves been homophobically
bullied. 22 Though teachers are aware of the extent of the problem
(82% of secondary school teachers aware of verbal homophobic bullying,
and 26% of physical homophobic bullying, it is perhaps the form
of bullying least likely to be self-reported. 23 Disclosure carries
risks not associated with other forms of bullying:
I was being bullied at school. When my dad found
out, he was sympathetic, but that's because he didn't know why
I was being bullied. Since he found out I was gay, he freaked.
Since then, every time he gets angry at me for something he threatens
to throw me out of the house. He never used to do that. 24
5. WHY SOME
PEOPLE BECOME
BULLIES AND
SOME PEOPLE
ARE BULLIED
5.1 We know that in bullying situations,
children and young people perform certain roles—bully, victim,
bystander—but it is not possible to predict with confidence
which role(s) which child will play. Recent research has tended
to disrupt old ideas of bullies as predominantly angry, socially
maladept and empathically deficient. There is some evidence that
a background of conflict, power-assertive discipline, domestic
violence, uninvolved fathering (for boys) and a domestic environment
in which the child feels that their views go unheard all increase
the likelihood of bullying. 25 However, the phenomenon of "bully-victim"
- a child who has been bullied and also bullies another—suggests
that hard and fast distinctions can be hard to sustain. Bullying
is dynamic and situational, so that bystander children, for example,
may play quite different roles ranging from assistants to reinforcers
to outsiders to defenders on different occasions.
5.2 This is not to discount the role of
personality, but to caution against rash stereotyping and pathologising,
which in the past has led to misconceived interventions. In an
international review of the effectiveness of anti-bullying practices,
Peter Smith has pointed out that anger management support for
bullies is unlikely to be effective, since there is no general
evidence of anger problems among children who bully. 26
5.3 Isolating the role of personality as
regards vulnerability to bullying is also somewhat problematic.
Any such attempt must be prefaced at both policy and pastoral
level with a clear message that nobody ever deserves to be bullied,
and that it is not the victim's fault. In many instances, as has
been observed, bullying relates to prejudice and it impacts disproportionately
on "outsider" children. Nevertheless, evidence does
suggest that victims of bullying may often be somewhat anxious
children, with poor social problem solving skills and a relatively
limited ability to read the motivations of others. 27 Victimisation
will be destructive of self-esteem, low self-esteem may increase
vulnerability to attack, and the effects may be bi-directional.
28 Other research suggests that girls who have been bullied are
twice as likely as their non-bullied peers to have been beaten:
"It is as though bullies and victims have
a common experience of seeing or living through higher levels
of violence, than other children." 29
6. SHORT AND
LONG-TERM
EFFECTS
Be Healthy, Stay Safe
6.1 The consequences of bullying are deep
and wide-ranging. Children and young people who are being bullied
are not safe, and their health can suffer significantly. One study
found that primary school children who were bullied were more
likely to report disturbed sleep, bed-wetting, feeling sad, headaches
and stomach aches. 30 A more recent international study of adolescents
has confirmed this picture, and underlined that the seriousness
of physical health problems such as headache, stomach ache, backache
and dizziness, and psychological problems such as bad temper,
nervousness, poor sleep patterns and helplessness, deepens with
the seriousness and duration of victimisation. 31 Long term and
intense bullying can lead to a variety of post-traumatic stress
disorders. 32
6.2 Some signs of distress may be evident
to parents and professionals, and it is important that information
is available to help them spot potential signs and intervene appropriately.
Parent Line Plus has recently brought out a useful guide for carers:
"Be Someone to Tell: What Can I do if My Child is Being Bullied".
Beatbullying has a Toolkit for healthcare professionals which
provides a section on the emotional, physical and behavioural
signs of bullying. It further describes how severe cases can lead
to withdrawal and self-abuse eg defensive and withdrawn body language,
eating disorders, alcohol and/or drug abuse, self-harming and
suicidal thoughts.
6.3 Modern anti-bullying practice as pioneered
by Professor Dan Olweus sprang out of public outrage at the suicide
of three Norwegian boys, aged 10-14, following severe victimisation
by their classmates. Although there are no authoritative figures
for how many children and young people are driven to consider
or attempt suicide, children and young people's testimonies frequently
reveal the overwhelming despair caused by bullying:
Bullying is horrible. I have been bullied since
the age of 4. When I was 13 I tried to kill myself. 33
6.4 Over 1998-99 ChildLine analysed the
calls they received about suicide. They received 701 calls where
suicidal ideation was the main problem, for whatever reason. In
the same period, they received 337 calls from children whose main
reason for calling was bullying, but who said this made them feel
like killing themselves. 34 Research with young lesbian, gay and
bisexual adults in 2000 found that 40% had made at least one attempt
to self-harm. Investigations by Neil Marr and Tim Field put the
figure of suicides among British children each year because of
bullying at 16 or more, a phenomenon they termed "bullycide".35
Depression and anxiety have been closely associated with adolescents
who have been bullied36 and bullies themselves. 37
6.5 The prevalence of serious physical injury
is not known. Although the great majority of bullying incidents
are verbal or relational, particularly among girls, a minority
do include assault. Of young people found to have been bullied
in Islington in 2001, 20% said they had been beaten and badly
injured. 38 22% of bullied children and young people consulted
in East Sussex "Straight to the Top" conference in 2005
said they had been physically assaulted. 39 Girls are less likely
suffer physical attack. Small scale research conducted over the
Summer term in a South Wales Accident and Emergency department
in 1999 revealed that an average of three children a week were
seen as a result of injuries caused by bullying. 60% of victims
were boys, and 40% were girls. 60% of attacks took place at school,
causing cuts and abrasions in 25% of cases, bruising in 20%, and
bone fractures in 15%. Some children had been forced to take drugs.
40
Enjoy & Achieve, Make a Positive Contribution,
Achieve Economic Wellbeing
6.6 As one might expect, children and young
people will try to remove themselves from school if they feel
unsafe. 72% of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults have reported
a regular history of school absenteeism due to homophobic bullying.
41 Parents or carers who find that their child is being bullied
and have no confidence in the action the school is taking to protect
him or her will in some cases withdraw their child. This can escalate
into protracted and bitter disputes. Exclusion is a sanction that
schools are prepared to use against bullies in only the most severe
cases, yet it has the effect of exposing the child or young person
to greater risk of social exclusion. There is some evidence to
suggest that bullies are more likely than those who have not bullied
to become involved in criminal activity later in life. A small
scale qualitative survey of young offenders by Kidscape in 1994
found that 62% had been bullies at school, and 23% had been bystanders.
Nearly all the bullying had been in gangs. The type of crime to
which these young people progressed generally involved both theft
and assault. 42 These findings coincide with Professor Dan Olweus'
30 year follow-up studies in Norway that found that around 60%
of boys who were bullies at aged 11-14 had at least one criminal
conviction by the age of 24, and up to 40% had three or more convictions,
compared with 10% of the control group who were not involved in
bullying. 43
7. TACKLING THE
PROBLEM
Legislation, Guidance and Inspection
7.1 Government has taken welcome steps in
recent years to require and support better practice in schools.
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 placed a duty on headteachers
to "encourage good behaviour and respect for others [...]
and, in particular, prevent all forms of bullying among pupils
(Section 61(4)). Schools must have a written policy setting out
how they tackle bullying, though this may be part of the behaviour
and discipline policy. The duty on schools to "safeguard
and promote the welfare of pupils", imposed by the Education
Act 2002 (Section 175) covers the problem of bullying. Particular
duties on schools to protect children from racist disadvantage
and discrimination were introduced by the Race Relations (Amendment)
Act 2000. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1998 was repealed
in 2003, following concerns from teachers that it was having a
detrimental effect on pastoral care and support for lesbian and
gay pupils. Since 2005, Ofsted's inspection framework for schools
has required it to assess how well schools are contributing to
meeting Every Child Matters outcomes, within which bullying
is located. The Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005 provided
new protection to children with disabilities by requiring schools,
as public bodies, to promote disability equality. Proposals contained
in the Education and Inspections Bill currently before Parliament
re-enact existing duties, and would require more clarity regarding
sanctions in cases of bullying, and at least some degree of consultation
with pupils as to the contents of its anti-bullying policy.
7.2 Guidance to schools on how to tackle
bullying, Don't Suffer in Silence was first issued in 1994,
was revised and re-issued in 2000, and a new edition is in preparation.
Material from this guidance, as well as from Ofsted's Bullying:
Effective Action in Secondary Schools (2003) formed the basis
of an Anti-Bullying Charter agreed by DfES in consultation with
the Secondary Heads Association, the National Association of Head
Teachers, the Anti-Bullying Alliance and others in 2003 as part
of a high-profile drive against bullying under a "Zero Tolerance"
theme. It included TV and poster advertising and extra resources
for teacher training. Specific advice on tackling homophobia within
schools, "Stand Up for Us", was produced for DfES in
2004, and new guidance specifically on tackling homophobic bullying
is currently being produced. Advice for teachers on how to prevent
and respond to racist and religiously bigoted bullying was produced
by DfES in 2006. A number of recent policy initiatives have had
a direct bearing on bullying, in particular the National Primary
and Secondary strategies on Behaviour Improvement and Attendance,
"Removing Barriers to Achievement" (2004) and Community
Safety Partnerships.
7.3 Since 2004, DfES has funded the Anti-Bullying
Alliance, which is a collaboration of over 65 local and national
organisations with a close interest and involvement in bullying
prevention. Co-ordinators in each of the English regions support
and spread good practice. The Children's Commissioner worked with
the ABA to conduct research with children and young people to
produce the "Journeys" anti-bullying booklet (see 8.3).
7.4 Government has combined its tightening
of the statutory framework and its varied support programmes with
the clear and understandable message that bullies should always
be punished. Children and young people, including victims of bullying,
often favour problem-solving, mediated approaches.
Types of Intervention:
Healthy Schools
7.5 The National Healthy Schools Programme
has supported schools to develop holistic services, and its Standards
framework is requiring a more systematic and evidenced approach.
Bullying is explicitly present within the programme's emotional
health and wellbeing theme, with judgements on the adequacy of
a schools anti-bullying policy being required in the Standards
inspection criteria. Healthy Schools must demonstrate that staff,
pupils and parents are aware of, understand, own and implement
the school's anti-bullying policy. In addition, pupils must have
opportunities to discuss it periodically. Early evidence shows
that fear of bullying is reducing in primary schools involved
in the programme. 44
7.6 Though it is difficult to ascribe particular
changes in pupil behaviours—in this case bullying—to
any specific change in the school's internal or external environment,
it is reasonable to assume that the progress made by Healthy Schools
comes through a combination of direct attention to bullying, and
more general support for emotional development, pro-social attitudes
and student voice. The Children's Commissioner believes that whole-school,
whole-child approaches, drawing in specialist services and support,
are key to preventing and managing bullying.
Children's Rights
7.7 Hampshire County Council has been working
in conjunction with UNICEF's Rights Respecting School programme
in implementing its own Rights, Respect and Responsibilities (RRR)
initiative covering pupils and students aged from 3—16.
300 Hampshire primaries and around 25 secondaries are now involved,
and some of its primaries were the first in the UK to be awarded
UNICEF's Rights Respecting School Level One awards. The award
recognises that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has
become embedded in the school ethos and curriculum, promoting
democratic, participatory teaching styles. Independent evaluation
of participating Hampshire schools, as well as Ofsted inspections,
have been extremely positive, revealing how readily children have
understood and embraced concepts of rights, responsibilities and
their relevance to their learning choices. Schools have become
less adversarial, children are more mutually supportive and outward-looking,
have improved problem solving skills, greater social and self-understanding
and higher self-esteem. Teacher motivation has also improved considerably,
making for more effective rights modelling in classrooms. Teachers
note that applying the Convention enables schools to draw together
subjects and activities into an understandable and affirmative
moral framework.
7.8 Classroom disruption and aggression
have dropped markedly. During its involvement in the programme,
one primary has seen its SATs rise from 133 to 231, its absence
level fall from 8%-6.6% and the number of children excluded fall
from 8-2. Bullying has declined, and teachers report that children
who in the past would have been intimidated by bullies are responding
assertively with reference to their rights: "stop that, I
have the right to play".45
7.9 The Children's Commissioner regards
bullying as a rights issue, welcomes what has been achieved to
date and looks forward to the national launch of UNICEF's programme
in the spring of 2007. Anti-bullying policies do not stand alone
in a school. Their success is crucially dependent on the whole-school
ethos, and in particular the degree of responsibility given to
pupils and students for making choices and resolving conflicts.
Personal, Social and Health Education
7.10 PSHE provides teachers with a clear
opportunity, and indeed obligation to work on bullying. Within
the National Curriculum for PHSE pupils should be taught:
Key Stage 1. "that there are different types
of teasing and bullying, that bullying is wrong, and how to help
to deal with bullying".
Key stage 2. "to realise the consequences
of anti-social and aggressive behaviours, such as bullying and
racism, on individuals and communities [...] [and] to realise
the nature and consequences of racism, teasing and bullying and
aggressive behaviours, and how to respond to them and ask for
help".
Key Stage 3. "about the effects of all types
of stereotyping, prejudice, bullying, racism, and discrimination
and how to challenge them assertively".
Key Stage 4. "to challenge offending behaviour,
bullying, racism and discrimination assertively and take the initiative
in giving and receiving support".
7.11 The Children's Commissioner believes
that all children and young people should be supported to have
these discussions. Their importance strongly supports arguments
for making PHSE a statutory foundation subject at Key Stages 1-4
(ages 4-18).
DfES Don't Suffer in Silence
7.12 Of the 25 possible interventions described
in the DfES Don't Suffer in Silence anti-bullying resource
(2000), schools were most satisfied overall with involving parents,
developing whole-school policies and working to improve playground
safety. Infant and primary schools found circle time the most
effective technique. Evaluation respondents consistently highlighted
the need for a survey of the nature and extent of bullying with
staff, pupils and parents to inform their work. Although 83% of
secondaries had conducted such a survey, only 70% of infant schools
and 56% of primary schools had done so. 46
SEAL and Empathic Development
7.13 Feedback from schools using SEAL materials
seems to have been positive in terms of its ability to generate
empathic, pro-social attitudes and prevent bullying, even though
the weightiness of the materials can be somewhat off-putting.
Schools are reported to be increasingly confident in combining
its materials with other techniques, such as R-Time (a methodology
to promote relational skills). The Roots of Empathy programme
which has been developed in Canada has shown great promise as
a means through which young children can learn to understand their
own emotional needs, and so reduce levels of aggression. The Office
of the Children's Commissioner supports approaches that nurture
children and young people's emotional self-awareness at all developmental
stages.
Anti-Homophobic and Anti-Racist Interventions
7.14 More resources are becoming available
nationally for tackling homophobic bullying, including resources
supported by the Association of London Government ("Burning")
and the Mayor of London ("Spell it Out"), and some local
authorities are supporting and drawing on material produced by
their local youth groups, for example Gay and Lesbian Youth in
Calderdale's anti-bullying pack. It appears that an increasing
number of local authorities are now identifying the need to ensure
that homophobia is explicitly mentioned in anti-bullying policies
and are committing themselves to improving reporting and training.
Reporting of racist incidents is already mandatory, though improvements
to collection and analysis are underway in several areas of the
country.
Effectiveness
7.15 A wide range of materials and approaches
are available to schools with which to tackle bullying. The lead
team on bullying (part of the educational psychology service)
in one local authority offers training in around 40 different
techniques, on how to approach different sets of needs. The multiplicity
of approaches enables schools to choose, combine and adapt in
their specific settings and in particular cases of conflict. Evaluating
the effectiveness of any single approach in such multi-layered
environments is problematic. Evidence does suggest that bullying
behaviour can be reduced more effectively in primary than secondary
schools, although it is unclear how far this is related to the
different nature of the school environment or to a peer climate
where attitudes to victims become increasingly negative in early
adolescence. There is little evidence that approaches that attempt
to improve bullies' self-esteem or social skills change behaviour.
However, it does appear that approaches supportive of self-esteem
and assertiveness among victims can reduce their victimisation.
47 The Children's Commissioner has commissioned the University
of York to conduct a review of the existing evidence base, with
particular regard to the evaluated effectiveness of different
techniques and strategies. It will be published in Anti-Bullying
Week 2006.
8. CHILDREN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE'S
INVOLVEMENT
Peer Support
8.1 Children and young people regularly
emphasise how important it is for them to be involved in solving
the problem of bullying. For example, children and young people
consulted in Blackpool in preparation for its Children and Young
People's Plan "felt that support from other children was
important and suggested the development of peer support networks
within schools".48 Peer support can take a number of different
forms, ranging from buddying to playground champions to friendship
benches to circle of friends. At its most advanced, it can take
the form of peer mediation schemes addressing conflict and bullying.
Where peer mediation has been reviewed, it has been found that
over 80% of disputes result in lasting agreements. Research suggests
that peer support in its varied forms improves the quality of
school relationships and provides opportunities to detect bullying
at a much earlier stage than would be possible for adults alone.
Friendship-based peer support seems to improve children and young
people's sense of safety and, by promoting pro-social attitudes,
may change potential bystanders into defenders. Crucially, 82%
of pupils using peer support schemes report that they have helped
by giving them the strength to cope with bullying (Cowie &
Hutson, 2005). 49
8.2 The Children's Commissioner believes
that all anti-bullying strategies must incorporate three different
dimensions: preventing bullying; intervening when it occurs; and
providing emotional support to children and young people who have
been targeted. It is the last of these elements which is has generally
been least developed, so the growth of peer support is particularly
to be welcomed and encouraged.
Journeys: Children and Young People Talking about
Bullying
8.3 The Children's Commissioner has worked
with children and young people to understand their experiences
of bullying and the strategies they have used to overcome it.
Young people's experiences and views have already been gathered
into a booklet—"Journeys"—40,000 copies
of which were distributed within six months, and which is in the
process of being reprinted to meet demand. "Journeys"
highlights young people's "top 10" recommendations for
action:
— Pick it up early, acting before it
becomes entrenched:
— Early intervention without young
people's active engagement is extremely difficult. Young people
know what is happening before adults do.
— Teachers and Inspectors need training
to ensure they do not collude with bullying:
— Collusion may be through misunderstanding
(adults not understanding the hurtfulness of terms being used),
or through inattention or lack of sympathy. Collusion destroys
trust, and reinforces bullying.
— Teach about diversity and equality:
— Young people are clear that discrimination
needs to be challenged publicly and regularly.
— Do not rely solely on the target
to identify who is bullying them before intervening. Consider
support groups, buddies or peer supporters or a bullybox:
— Young people have many ideas
about how problems can be reported, and can quality check these.
Reporting directly to an adult is a risk that many young people
are reluctant to take.
— Use the experience of young people
in peer support programmes:
— These programmes build and value
young people's skills, and can breakdown bystander cultures.
— Teach techniques for calming down
and developing resilience:
— Bullying erodes self-confidence
and self-esteem, so young people need additional support.
— There are risks for children in telling
someone. Adults should handle this information with care:
— Children and young people in
have indicated their dissatisfaction with teachers attitude to
confidentiality. 50 Training needs to emphasise its importance.
— Work with children and young people
to change bullying behaviour:
— Children and young people appreciate
the complex motivations behind bullying, and value opportunities
to understand as well as change behaviour.
— Being part of a group outside school
can help build confidence and friendship:
— Children and young people realise
that having few friends increases their vulnerability to bullying
and reduces their ability to cope with it.
— Involve children, young people and
their parents in finding solutions and resolving bullying:
— The negative effects of bullying
are magnified when parents, children and schools disagree about
how to respond.
8.4 Further consultation with children of
primary school age, to be published as a second "Journeys"
resource in Anti-Bullying Week has produced a "top ten"
tips specifically for primary ages:
— Consider the effects on the child
who is bullied.
— Teachers should involve parents.
— It helps if bullies don't get a reaction
from you.
— Teachers could try and make bullies
understand how it feels.
— Friends can be a real help.
— Dialogue can be a way out of long
term conflicts.
— Supervise at key times.
— Find out what's behind the bullying.
— Support groups in the playground.
— Nobody deserves to be bullied.
— Lunchtime clubs can reduce playground
problems.
9. OBSERVATIONS
AND FUTURE
FOCUS
9.1 The Children's Commissioner welcomes
the energy, imagination and leadership being brought to bear on
bullying across England. Regional co-ordinators, and, where they
exist, specialist senior local authority officers appear to have
been particularly effective in maintaining focus for what is long-term
work. This investment is starting to show encouraging results.
For example, Leicestershire's figures, as reported through its
annual pupil attitude survey, show a reduction of approximately
25% for year 5 pupils, and 25% for year 6 pupils from 2002-03
to 2005-06.
9.2 DfES' role has been positive, and its
guidance and resources have proved useful in their own right,
as well as a catalyst for local activity and local resources.
Given that children and young people's involvement and ideas must
be at the centre of anti-bullying work, and that local inter-agency
partnerships must be creative and committed, it is right that
anti-bullying activity looks and feels distinctive in different
parts of the country.
9.3 A significant outcome of the training
and advice provided is that schools are able to better identify
bullying. It is an ongoing challenge to engage with those schools
who fail to recognise the extent of the problem within their school
and choose not to access training and support. Local training
staff have reported that schools where least energy is applied
to the problem (due to a failure to identify or accept the levels
of bullying within the school), will in some cases be those where
problems are actually most acute. Standards are not yet high enough
for every child. Consideration should be given to whether requiring
greater specification within schools' anti-bullying strategies,
to bring them more in line with the good practice envisaged by
the Anti-Bullying Charter in terms, for example, of homophobia
and training commitments, would provide more consistent protection.
9.4 More consistent reporting would be helpful.
At the moment, schools are only required to report racist incidents,
and although many do work closely with their local authority in
reporting incidents, this co-operation is not universal. Mandatory
reporting could and should detail the type of incident and the
bias involved.
9.5 An annual survey of perceptions of bullying
is now accepted good practice in many schools, and consideration
should be given to how all schools might be induced to adopt the
practice.
9.6 The Commissioner welcomes the national
performance indicators for children's services which are being
developed for Joint Area Reviews relating to Staying Safe (% 11-15
state they have been bullied in last 12 months) and Positive Contribution
(% 10-19 admitting to (a) bullying another pupil in the last 12
months (b) attacking, threatening or being rude due to skin colour,
race or religion). While recognising the challenges in producing
valid statistics for bullying among primary school age children,
we know both that children are more likely to be bullied while
at primary school, and that interventions to change behaviour
are more likely to be effective at this point. The Commissioner
therefore urges further consideration of how to bring all school
age children within the indicators.
9.7 As children and young people have rightly
identified, trust and co-operation between parents and schools
is an essential element of any anti-bullying policy. However,
the approaches made to the Children's Commissioner, and the experience
of colleagues nationally, confirm that this trust sometimes breaks
down, and problems are then made worse by the absence of an independent
complaints system.
9.8 At present, the options for a child
or parent who wish to complain about bullying, or the failure
of the school to address the bullying, are limited. Where a child
alleges that he or she has been bullied, either the child or a
parent may raise this matter with a teacher. If the complaint
is not satisfactorily resolved, a complaint may be made successively
to the Headteacher, and then to the Governors of the school. If
the complainant remains dissatisfied after a hearing before the
governors of the school, it is possible to take the complaint
further, and complain to the LA. However, the normal response
of the LA is that the complaint relates to a matter of internal
discipline within the school and the LA has no basis on which
to interfere. A final complaint may be made to the Secretary of
State for Education under ss 496 and 497 Education Act 1996 if
the complainant believes that the governing body or local authority
has acted unreasonably or is failing to carry out its duties properly.
It does not appear, however, that any complaint at this level
has ever been upheld.
9.9 The Children's Commissioner, at the
request of the Secretary of State, is reviewing this situation
and making recommendations for change. A draft document, proposing
an independent element within the process, will be launched for
discussion in Anti-Bullying Week, and is expected to be finalised
early in 2007.
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1 Rigby, K (2002) New Perspectives on Bullying,
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2 Greene, M (2006) Bullying in schools:
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3 Swain, J (1998) What does bullying
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4 MacLead, M and Morris, S (1996) Why
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5 Leicestershire County Council (2003) Preliminary
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6 Bedfordshire County Council (2006) Children
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7 Flood-Page, C et al (2000)Youth
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9 Morita, Y (2001) Cross-national comparative
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10 Oliver, O and Candappa, M (2003) Tackling
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11 Cheshire County Council (2006) Children
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12 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
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13 Cumbria County Council (2006) Children
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14 Bath and North East Somerset Council
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15 Doncaster County Council (2006) Children
and Young People's Plan 2006-09, p 24.
16 Children and young people feeding back
online could choose to prioritise bullying.
17 Morita, Y (2001) op cit.
18 Ahmad, Y and Smith, P K (1994) "Bullying
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20 All project and pre-project materials
available at www.speakoutcambs.org
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22 Drake, K et al (2003) Homophobic
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23 Warick, I et al (2004) Homophobia,
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25 Katz, A et al (2001) Bullying
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partner violence, Pediatrics, Vol 118, pp 235-242.
26 Smith, P Bullying in Schools: How
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27 Craig, W et al (2000) "Observations
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28 Rigby, K (2003) "Consequences of
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48, pp 583-590.
29 Katz, A et al (2001) Bullying
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30 Williams, K et al (1996) "Association
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31 Due, P et al (2005) "Bullying
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32 Lowenstein, L (2002) "Treatment
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Bullying: A Practical Guide to Coping for Schools, Pearson
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33 Testimony in "The Anti-Bullying
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34 McConville, B (2001) Saving Young Lives:
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35 Marr, N and Field, T (2001) Bullycide:
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36 Salmon, G (1998) "Bullying in schools:
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37 Kaltiala-Heino, R et al (1999) "Bullying,
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38 Katz, A et al (2001) "Fitting in
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39 East Sussex County Council (2006) Children
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40 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4461546.stm
41 Ribers, I (2001) "The bullying of
sexual minorities in school: its nature and long-term correlates"
Educational and Child Psychology, vol 18, 32¸46; cited in
Adams, N et al (2004) "`I am the hate that dare not
speak its name': dealing with homophobia in secondary schools"
Educational Psychology in Practice, Vol 20, pp 259-269.
42 Elliott, M. (2002) "Bullying pays!
A survey of young offenders" in Elliott, M (ed) Bullying:
A Practical Guide to Coping for Schools, Pearson Education and
Kidscape.
43 Olweus, D (1993) Bullying at School:
What we Know and What we Can Do, Blackwell.
44 Warwick, W et al (2004) Evaluation of
the Impact of the National Healthy Schools Standard, Thomas Coram
Research Unit and NRER.
45 Covel, K and Howe, B (2005) Rights, Respect
and Responsibility: Report on the RRR Initiative to Hampshire
County Council Education Authority, Children's Rights Centre,
Cape Breton University.
46 Smith, P and Samara, M (2003) Evaluation
of the DfES Anti-Bullying Pack, DfES Brief No RBX06-03.
47 Smith, P. Bullying in Schools: How
Successful Can Interventions Be?, Cambridge University Press,
2004.
48 Blackpool Borough Council (2005) Children
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49 Cowie, H and Hutson, N (2005) "Peer
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50 See, for example, Hilton Z and Mills
C "I think It's About Trust": The Views of Children
and Young People on Information Sharing, the Children's Commissioner
for England.
October 2006
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