Bullying in Schools - can it be prevented?

April 18, 2013

Bullying has always been a serious issue in schools, recent statistics show that a shocking 46% (almost half) of young people say they have been bullied in school at some point and 38% have been victims of cyber bullying. It’s clear that bullying is still a growing issue in today’s schools and society, however it is often said that schools ‘do not do enough’ about bullying. Schools always claim they have a ‘strict no bullying policy’ and are confident that their building is a ‘safe place to be’ but how true are these claims?

Recently, two local schools in Essex have been in the media. One was front page news of ‘The Sun’ and on every news channel for banning a certain shape flapjack after one of their pupils was hit by one. The other school received a lot less media attention however they were in the news because of a vicious fight that happened in their playground during school hours had been filmed and put in the internet. Although bullying and violence in schools are seen as ‘everyday, common issues’ surely the fact that a pupil got assaulted in school is more news worthy than a school allegedly banning a biscuit because of its shape.

The fight itself was shocking enough but what’s even more shocking is that the school didn’t seem to take much action other than ban phones. Recently, ex glamour model and local Essex girl Jodie Marsh made a hit documentary about bulling and how schools deal with it. Of course the show received masses of positive reviews and rightly so, it was moving and educational and it was no surprise that research showed people think schools are not doing enough to prevent bulling and are not dealing with the issue of bullying harsh enough. The show also compared how schools in America and schools in the UK deal with bullying it seemed that the schools that actually made their pupils take charge of the bullying system seemed happier and had less bullying issues.

In today’s modern society, it has become easier for bullies to attack their victims by using social networking sites and technology. Yes, true you can simply ‘block’ a person on the internet however that does not stop the victims feeling helpless and upset. Shows on TV have raised awareness about how easy it is to create a fake identity and pose as someone else proving no one is really safe on the internet, but how can we stop bullying?

You can’t expect a school to deal with every incident involving a nasty comment through Facebook or a text message but if one of their students is feeling threatened by another surely it’s the schools place to try and make the victim feel as safe and happy as possible whilst in their care.  Of course not every school takes lightly to bullying and there are a number that will not tolerate it and exclude and punish the bully with force but what about after, does the victim really get enough support? Schools insist that they do not under any circumstances tolerate bullying and even have anti-bullying week themes but if they do not tolerate any bullying why are so many children and young people saying they still get bullied in school? It seems that schools have a habit of brushing off any responsibility when it comes to bullying but still insist their school is safe and ‘bully-free’. We are all taught from a young age to ‘be kind’ and ‘if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say it at all’ but the lack of responsibility and discipline schools have against bullying is almost giving permission for their students to play a game of who can be the meanest.

Although the internet is a place where bullying victims can feel most vulnerable it is also a place they can find comfort, there are a number of self harm and anti bullying websites and phone lines victims can call to get some advise and find some support this is of course a very positive thing but the fact that children today feel safer getting advise from a stranger online or over the phone than they do from an adult who is supposed to not only give them an education but give them safety and support. Schools say that they do not want children’s parents getting involved in something that the school should be dealing with and no parent wants to call their child a bully and of course no school wants a reputation for having bullies but its now a common fear that if schools don’t step into action and treat bullying as a more serious case, who will?

With today’s modern technology there is no denying it’s become trying to stop bulling even harder and it is hard for any school to really punish a pupil and call someone a ‘bully’ if there is no solid proof so can schools really do any more about bullying or is bullying just another issue that will never really go away? Are schools really doing anything about bullying, or is there really nothing else they can do?

These services below offer help and advice to anyone suffering or worried by the issue of bullying

Childline:

http://www.childline.org.uk

NSPCC

http://www.nspcc.org.uk

Kid Scape

http://www.kidscape.org.uk/

National Bullying Helpline

http://nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk