Bullying at school
Bullying can be in many ways, from verbal or physical to sending messages via mobile or on social media. In any case, Bullying is unacceptable.
Bullying is the repetitive and persistent, intentional hurting of someone which is divided in to four basic categories.
Bullying includes:
- Emotional – Constant Criticism, intimidation
- Verbal – Name calling, threats of violence
- Physical – Causing injury or trauma to another person
- Cyber – Social Media and texts/pictures via mobile phones
As a school, they should deal with bullying as soon as possible and not leave it to escalate. This can lead to the student suffering emotionally or physically. They need to support the victim and not the person doing the bullying.
All bullying in and out of school needs to be investigated when reported by the parent/carer or student. If not reported to school, they will not be able to investigate what is going on and put the correct measures in place to try and stop the bullying. If it involves crime, you should report it to the police.
Preventing Bullying in schools
In schools there needs to be a positive behaviour for learning ensuring all students have a chance to thrive and learn in an environment that has respect and dignity for others. To help prevent bullying in schools, it is good for schools to have/do the following.
- Have policies in place for anti-bullying
- Promoting a clear anti-bullying message around the school and in assemblies/classes such as PSHE
- Challenge students on their behaviour towards bullying and their role in preventing it
- Encourage them to report any bullying they may witness
- Work closely with parents/carers. Make sure in year 7 the anti-bullying policy is communicated to all and that the school will not tolerate any behaviour around bullying
- Train staff on the Anti-bullying policy and what their responsibilities are towards preventing
- Equal Opportunities Policy
What to do if you are being bullied
If you are a young person or child of school age, your school should have a Policy in place to deal with bullying. If you are a student, you should speak to your Tutor or Head of Year and discuss the issues you have been experiencing. It is good to have a log of times when incidents have happened, when, where and who was involved.
As a parent identifying your child is being bullied, you should contact the school and speak to the relevant person in charge of dealing with behaviour. Make an appointment to discuss in person the issues and a plan of what you want to happen.