It may appear that I have been distracted and distanced myself from the bullying campaign. This could not be further from the truth and again I thank you all for your contributions, past present and future. So I decided that I would give you an update as to what is happening in the United Kingdom with regards to this area. As I have said in my factoids in this area, I believe that all bullying is cruel and strong action should not only be encouraged but carried out. I am not advocating illegal vigilantism (if that is even a word) but I do want people to be able to go to school, work, even their homes and not feel threatened. So this article will show what has been happening on this side of the pond in this area. I pray that it gives people hope that if you make a loud enough noise then things can change or at least start to…
With one charity estimating that around 6,000 children per year have to be taken out of school due to bullying, there appears to be some way to go before the situation changes. Before I continue, let me lay down some frightening statistics:
- Each year 10-14 youth suicides are directly attributed to bullying
- Bullied children are 6 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their non-bullied counterparts
- Watch this video - and think…
(Source:www.kidscape.org.uk- accessed 19/9/09)
It appears that it is the victims that have to change whilst the bullies are allowed to stay in school and continue their reign of terror. A representative from from National Headteacher’s Association admitted that there are certain inbuilt deterrents which prevent action being taken. Some of these include headteacher’s decisions being overruled and overturned and those bullies who have been expelled being allowed back into school. All in all, schools are failing the victims of bullying and taking them out of school is just as ineffective. But that is starting to change and the silence has started to break and there have been three key charities involved in this and this article will look briefly at each one.
First the support groups are starting to find their voice. One of the most vocal in this area is the Children’s Legal Centre (www.childrenslegalcentre.com). This organisation set up in 1981 and staffed by lawyers and professionals exists through the UK grant system as well as charitable giving. They have found that more and more parents are seeking legal advice in this area as the effectiveness of anti-bullying systems varies from school to school and from area to area. They are also calling for more heads of schools to be held accountable when it comes to bullying. The horror stories that have come to light is that although there are rules in place, they are not robust enough especially when it comes to the rights of parents. With the lawsuit happy society we have got, things have become difficult. Parents and teachers have been sued because they had the audacity to stand up to the bullies. Thus, this leads to head teachers and principals seemingly distancing themselves from the problems. Guidelines should be strengthened and more accountability should be in place.
Another voice that is joining in the campaign is the National Bullying Helpline (http://www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/about.htm) which was set up in 2002 and received charity status in 2007. This was set up to help deal with bullying in the workplace and it is the only one that is run by CIPD qualified professionals in the UK and it is the only one that deals with bullying on every level and in every corner of society.
Kidscape (www.kidscape.org.uk) this is a charity that is dedicated to keeping children safe from abuse and harm. It was specifically set up to prevent bullying and sexual abuse. Their overriding goal is to provide people and companies the skills that they need to prevent children from coming to harm. They also help children equip themselves with techniques to reduce the odds on them being abused and suffering harm.
There is also Childline (www.childline.org.uk) who also continue to add their voice - and what a voice it is…
So as can be seen, the anti-bullying voice is growing over here with calls being made for changes in the law that would see bullying being dealt with more severely. There is no reason why people should be in fear of their safety, health and even their lives because of this scourge. So the sooner that something is done the better.
Take care and God bless readers…
© Ngozi Nwabineli - September 2009
