School staff "bullied by managers"

School staff are facing rising levels of bullying by senior managers, according to a teachers' union.
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers - which also has teaching assistant members says bullying can be a serious problem for school employees as well as pupils.
ATL's annual conference voted for a resolution expressing alarm at the rise in bullying of staff, particularly from senior managers in schools.
The union will now carry out a survey of its members to ascertain the type and extent of bullying by other staff.
The conference also agreed that homework for primary school children was a waste of time for children and teachers, and called for all formal homework to be abolished.

Watching bullying "is fun"

Four out of ten children say that if they saw another child being bullied they would stay and watch, according to a survey by led by Children’s Rights Director for England, Roger Morgan.

Another three out ten children said they would film it on their mobile phone, and two out of ten said they would encourage the bullies to carry on.

Fun and excitement was the reason most often given for watching bullying, with around half that number saying they were too scared to do anything about it.

Cyberbullying had also affected a significant number of children.

Four out of ten children said they had experienced cyberbullying through their mobiles, emails, or on social networking sites.

Altogether, 319 children were surveyed, from the age of six upwards.

Children on Bullying

"Nearly all" children have been victims of a crime

Nearly all children have been the victim of a crime, according to a new report.
A survey of children in primary and secondary schools found that 19 out of 20 pupils had been the victim of a crime at least once.
Nearly half said property had been stolen from them at school, and one in six had experienced a theft between school and home.
Nearly three quarters of children in the survey had been assaulted.
Children mostly told only friends and family about what had happened. Only one in three had told the police or teachers.
The survey was conducted by the Howard League for Penal Reform . More than 3000 children across the country were surveyed over seven years.
"These crimes are often not reported as children think adults will not listen to them, or the crime will be viewed as too small to bother with, said the Howard League's director Frances Crook.
Most of the incidents were low level crimes taking place in schools and playtrounds but "to children these crimes are serious enough, and do matter".
She said it was ironic that children are most commonly victimised at school - "the very institutions where children should feel safest, set up and patrolled by adults".
Children as victimes: child-sized crimes in a child-sized world.

Boring playtimes increase bullying

Boring breaks and badly designed playgrounds contribute towards bullying, a charity has claimed.

In a survey of 1,146 children aged between six and 11 years-old, a quarter said they had been bullied in the playground and one in six said they had been bored in the playground. But more than nine out of ten of the children said they enjoyed playtime overall.

Bullying was higher in Wales and Scotland, with 47 per cent and 34 per cent having experienced it respectively. Eight was the age when children were most likely to be bullied.

Catherine Andrews, chief executive of the national school grounds charity, Learning Through Landscapes, said: "A proven solution is to engage them in more stimulating play. Whilst it is said that children will play anywhere, the quality of the experience is undoubtedly related to the quality of the environment.”

No go for "gay" insults

Using "gay" as an insult should be viewed as seriously as racist abuse, says new bullying guidance.
The homophobic bullying guidance covers primary and secondary schools. It includes detailed help for teaching assistants and teachers on how to deal with homophobic insults, and how to protect the children of gay parents from bullying.
Education secretary Ed Balls, launching the new guidance, said "Children cannot learn, let alone enjoy school if they are frightened of bullying.
"I reject any notion that addressing homophobic bullying is political correctness for its own sake. Even casual use of homophobic language in schools can create an atmosphere that isolates young people and can be the forerunner of more serious forms of bullying."
Homophobic bullying