Schools 'punish' bullying victims
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
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Children should not be expelled from school for fighting back against bullies, MPs said yesterday.
The Commons Education Select Committee expressed concern that some victims of bullying were being thrown out for retaliating. They said pupils should help decide how to punish playground bullies and called on ministers to tell schools not to exclude children who have been victims.
In a new report, the Committee said: "We are concerned to hear that some schools are excluding the victims of bullying on health and safety grounds. Violence in retaliation against bullying is unacceptable and schools are right to discipline the perpetrators of violence.
"However, we would expect previous bullying to be taken into account when deciding on appropriate disciplinary measures."
The report said ministers should send new guidance to schools making clear that victims of bullying "must not" be suspended or expelled.
"We recommend that punishment regimes are reviewed to incorporate where permissible 'pupil-suggested' punishments," the committee said. These could include litter picking and "school clean-ups".
"This will bring pupils to the heart of the process and they will feel they have had a real influence in the measures to tackle the issue.
"It also means that the pupils will have determined what they feel is a 'fair punishment'."
The MPs said ministers should give guidance to parents on stopping "cyber-bullying" - where children are targeted on the internet, by email or text message.
They also called on Catholic schools to do more to stamp out homophobic bullying.
In response to the committee's report, Oona Stannard, chief executive of the Catholic Education Service, said she agreed with ministers that "any form" of bullying should not be tolerated, including homophobic bullying.
Schools minister Jim Knight said: "Next week, teachers will get stronger legal powers as part of our continued fight against bullying.
"These will allow teachers to confiscate mobile phones which are being used to film bullying or text hurtful remarks. Teachers will also have clear powers on using force to break up fights or restrain violent pupils."
Children's charity NSPCC said bullying has, for the past decade, been the number one reason youngsters phone ChildLine, and counsellors received more than 3,000 calls a month on the issue.
A spokeswoman for the charity said: "It is concerning the Government does not know the full scale of the problem. More research is needed to assess what works best in preventing and changing bullying behaviour.
"Bullying continues to devastate children's lives on a daily basis. It is vital that the Government acts on this report.
"NSPCC welcomes the call for additional support for schools. We recommend that teaching pupils positive relationship skills and mutual respect through PSHE should be a compulsory part of the school curriculum."
The spokeswoman added: "Tackling bullying doesn't just happen within the school gates. We also welcome the emphasis the report places on the vital role parents play in understanding how their schools anti-bullying policies affects their children."
