Why we need to keep talking about bullying

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Why we need to tackle bullying head-on

Bullying can drastically affect a child psychologically and socially. It can impact significantly on their attendance and progress in school and have a lasting effect into adulthood on their relationships and wellbeing.

The School’s Health Research Network survey in 2019 (SHRN) found that over a third of pupils of all ages reported that they ‘have been bullied at school in the past couple of months’ and a sixth said that they had ‘bullied another person in the last couple of months’.

Similarly, in May, Ofcom found that nearly a third of pupils had experienced bullying online.

Our 2014 report Action on Bullying said that pupils’ experience of bullying and how well it was dealt with varied widely, particularly in secondary schools. This sentiment was echoed in our 2019 report, Happy and Healthy.  The SHRN survey showed that pupils’ wellbeing seems to get worse as they get older. It found that the proportion of pupils who agree that there is a member of staff they can confide in declined from 80% in Year 7 to 65% in Year 11. 

Responses to questions on pupils’ wellbeing gathered in pre-inspection questionnaires during primary and secondary school inspections in 2018-2019 seem to support these findings. They also show that the proportion of secondary school pupils who are happy with how well their school deals with bullying is also notably lower than that of primary school pupils.

It’s true that research shows that adolescence affects wellbeing. However, this should not be an excuse preventing schools from tackling bullying effectively.

Defining bullying

There is no legal definition of bullying, but essentially it’s behaviour that is:

  • repeated, whilst recognising that even a one-off incident can leave a learner traumatised and fearful that it will happen again in the future
  • difficult for victims to defend themselves against
  • intended to hurt someone either physically or emotionally
  • often aimed at certain groups, for example because of race, disability, religion, gender or sexual orientation

It can be both direct and indirect, for example by spreading nasty rumours about someone or excluding them from social groups.

When deciding whether behaviour is bullying, it’s important to take the child’s perspective into account.

The law on preventing bullying in schools

Schools are under legal duties to uphold the fundamental human right of children to be free from abuse and must therefore tackle bullying in all its forms. Some key duties include that staff must act to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, promote equality and foster good relations between pupils.

Amongst other things, schools must have a behaviour policy that sets out how it will:

  • prevent all forms of bullying among pupils
  • record bullying incidents
  • investigate and deal with incidents
  • support victims
  • deal with bullies

All teachers, pupils and parents must be told what the policy is. Schools should also train staff to prevent, identify and deal with bullying.

Anyone can make a complaint to the police about bullying, but it’s usually a good idea to speak to the school first.

What if your child is the victim of bullying – what can you do to help?

  • Reassure them that telling you about the bullying was the right thing to do.
  • Keep calm and note all the facts (who, when, where …).
  • Ask your child to report further incidents to a teacher straight away.
  • Make an appointment to see your child’s class teacher or form tutor and explain what your child is experiencing. Be specific!
  • Keep accurate records of the bullying and the action the school agrees to take and speak to the school if you feel that this isn’t being followed through.
  • Ask your child’s teacher what you can do to help at home.
  • Stay in touch with the school – let them know if things improve or not.

If you feel that the school is not dealing with your concerns:

  • Check to see if the school has followed its policy.
  • Make an appointment to see the headteacher – keep a record of the meeting and follow it up in writing if necessary.
  • If this does not help, write to the chair of governors with your concerns and what action you would like them to take.
  • If you do not feel that the governing body has dealt with your complaint appropriately, you can write directly to the local authority.  The authority cannot change the school’s decision, but it can check if it has followed the correct procedures.   

There are a wide range of support groups to help if your child is being bullied (see below).

Good practice in schools

The most important lesson we learned in our reports Action on Bullying and Happy and Healthy was that, in schools that deal effectively with bullying and support pupils’ wellbeing, prevention and response go hand-in-hand. Schools should record incidents accurately and systematically, and use this information with research and good practice to improve their approaches continually. It is critical that schools take action to deal with both the behaviour and the underlying attitudes that drive bullying, also through their curriculum and ethos.  

If pupils feel that the messages they are told by their schools about respect and tolerance are different to what they experience, this undermines the work of the school. For example, lessons about bullying are of limited value unless pupils are satisfied with how the school deals with allegations of bullying.

There is a wide range of support available to schools. I’ve provided some links to Welsh Government resources and national charities, as well as to our supplementary guidance and reports to help support schools with their approaches.

Anti-bullying week 2019 starts on 11 November. Schools should use this as an opportunity to check that their approach is truly whole-school and that pupils do not see their efforts as a one-off event.  Most importantly, schools should review whether their work is having the desired impact on levels of bullying and pupils’ wellbeing. If it isn’t, then they should act to make the changes needed. 

Support for children and parents

Support for schools

Estyn reports and supplementary guidance:

Welsh Government

Research and news