Bullying

whilst reading the june issue of MAI and reading the excllent article by steve rowe, about the young lad being bullied and harassed at school i found it struck many notes with m about the state of things in schools. one issue i found is that the article describes the near physical attacks simon recieves, these include spitting, sticking notes on his back, bumping into him etc.how do you think these can be addressed? they are clearly bullying devices yet not sever enough to be viewed by schools as a major bullying issue.
it is my opinion that these common school yard approaches to near physical bullying need to be addressed by martial arts instructors. i have veiwed a fair few anti-bullying martial arts class's/seminars, yet none have addressed what to do in these middle stages of conflict and systematic bullying. often they train to resolve physical attacks of the punch/grab variety and address aspects of verbal dissuasion. yet how often do you see training to deal with the sneaky things that can be gotten away with in the eyes of many schools and these very slighting strikes and knocks do not allow for the child striking back without facing punishment from the school system.
i think it is an issue that needs to be addressed and trained for, whether this is by RBSD type scenario work or somesuch, no matter what the style i think these are essential things to train against.
As, if slighting attacks such as shoulder barging, spitting, and pushing are allowed to continue they are generally followed by more violent attacks when the bullies are more comfortable with what they can get away with.

www.roberthiggs.co.uk

This guy is one of the best on this subject in the uk.

In the first instance, at a primary or junior school, see the class teacher and explain your worries in a friendly non-confrontational way. Ask how your child is getting on with others in class and raise any issues of conflict with other children.

Ask if the teacher has noticed that your child seems unhappy and isolated and is being excluded from games in the playground or regularly not having a partner to work with in class.

Ask the class teacher, or the head of year at secondary school, if he/she can keep an eye on the situation and let you know if they have any concerns. Ask what the teacher suggests would be the best way of sorting it out. At a primary school perhaps the supervisors could take a more active role in the playground by keeping an eye on your child and ensuring that people are not excluded from games.

Some primary schools have “friendship seats” where younger children can go to sit if they have nobody to play with so that other pupils can ask them to join their games and the supervisors can spot whether one child is on their own too often.

Secondary schools may not be aware that there are some areas of the school pupils feel are unsafe, the toilets often come into this category.

By telling the head of year where the bullying is happening, supervision can be increased so that the bullies are caught red handed, meaning that your child can’t be accused of telling tales.

At this stage it can be helpful to try to increase your child’s circle of friends, by inviting a number of children home regularly, to forge stronger friendships.

If bullying continues:
• Keep a diary of what your child says is happening
• Or get your child to keep his/her own diary
• Write a note to the class teacher or head of year, explaining that the problem is still unresolved
• Ask for your letter to be put onto your child’s school file, together with a note of action taken
• Suggest that contact between the bully and your child is monitored and limited, perhaps by the bully moving to another table or set
• Ask for a follow-up meeting after a couple of weeks to discuss how things are going
That often does the trick, but if not, it’s time to write to the head teacher, outlining everything that has gone on, and including evidence from the diary to back up your complaint. Putting a complaint in writing is essential so that there is a record of your concern.

Schools have a duty of care, and allowing a child to be continually bullied when the school has been alerted to the problem could be seen as a breach of that duty.

Unfortunately many parents find that bullying continues after they have asked the class teacher, head of year or head teacher to sort it out.

The next step is to contact the chair of governors. You can get his/her name from the school office. Write to him/her at the school address. Explain the background and enclose any letters between you and the head. Ask for an immediate investigation.

It’s unlikely that all governors will be made aware of your complaint.

This is because many issues are dealt with as ‘Chair’s Action’ and the chairman may hope to get the matter resolved with the head teacher quickly.

The other reason not all governors will be made aware of the complaint is because the matter may escalate into an exclusion of the bully and if that happens the bullied child’s parents will have a right of appeal and there need to be some governors without prior knowledge of the case.

When you complain to the chairman, send a copy of your complaint to your local councillor and ask for a meeting with him/her. Political parties have representatives on school governing bodies and if your local councillor is not one of them, he/she will have contacts who are.

Ask for a copy of your child’s school record. The governors have a legal obligation to provide this within 15 school days, excluding weekends and holidays, but you will be asked to pay for photocopying. (There is further advice on getting a copy of the record in the section on that topic).

This is also the time to start asking questions of other parents. Your child may not be the only bullying target and you may find other parents are keen to back you up in your complaint.

If this doesn’t work, the next step is for you to make a formal complaint to the LEA and ask for an investigation to be carried out and a report issued.

In fairness to LEAs, it should be said that where pupils are removed from one school to another due to bullying the LEA would not necessarily know about the problem unless parents tell them. They do not need to be involved in a school transfer unless there is an appeal for a place.

Ask the LEA how many other complaints of bullying have been reported to the LEA involving the same school. Ask if the LEA education welfare officer (education social worker) has been involved. She has to visit pupils whose parents have removed them and who are at home. This may prompt LEA officials into asking if the school has a problem if there have been a series of complaints.

If you do not feel that your concerns have been properly investigated you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman - who cannot investigate the internal workings of schools but can look at the LEA’s role in investigating your complaint. Also make sure you contact your MP.

Your final recourse is to the Secretary of State, at Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, Westminster, London, where your complaint will be dealt with by the Pupils and Parents branch. Officials can only order action to be taken if your child is still a pupil at the school, so if he/she has been removed, there is nothing the Secretary of State will do.