Bullying in Schools...

We all know that bullying exists and we don't like it.  It appears that some schools seem to deal with it better than others.  Is it though, that some schools have lower levels of bullying or no bullying at all, due to the social status of the children attending the schools?  Are schools in areas of middle/upper class pupils less likely to encounter bullying here?  Or is bullying rife in all schools, irrespective of social class and it is indeed 'how the school deals with bullying' that needs addressing in order to deter bullies?

So first of all, to address the above, I guess we need to discuss what bullying actually is....  Bullying is where a person is being mean to another  on purpose, using words to hurt (teasing, name calling, racist remarks, homophobic remarks, insults), being intimidating or physically hurting them (pinching, kicking, biting, pushing and damaging property) and usually this happens on more than one occasion or has potential to, in order to be classed as bullying.  Of course, for older children, social media is a place where bulling can occur and there may seem no escape, even at home for the child, when this happens ?. 

Research published by The Conversation on 22/07/2014 stated that findings from 28 studies published since 1970 and covering 342,611 children and adolescents in North America, Europe and Australia found that victims of bullying and bully/victims (victims who also fight back) were more likely to live in poorer families and that fewer victims came from richer households.  However, it also showed only a weak link between socioeconomic status and being a bully, that bullies were only slightly more likely to come from middle or lower-socioeconomic backgrounds.  

In contradiction, Richard Garner from the Independent (03/02/2013) states that children from wealthier backgrounds are more likely to be picked on and bullied at school according to research carried out on 1843 British students.  The study revealed that almost 8% of students had suffered from bullying as a result of their social class with the reasons mostly being because of their parents being rich or they had posh accents.  Furthermore, a report on bullying by an anti bullying organisation set up by Liam Heckett  'Ditch The Label'  revealed that 7 out of 10 children claim to have been bullied by the time that they reach 18 years of age.  The report claims that 60% of those that took part in the research were bullied for their appearance and 36% due to their hobbies/interests.  Moreover, this research was carried out more than 6 years ago and at this time, 21% of these people said that they had experienced cyber-bullying and as we all know, in the last few years, social media has only become stronger.  These statistics are quite alarming....

As adults, many of us have seen bullying in some form, whether it is us ourselves that have been bullied, our children, our partner or a friend.  My husband was bullied at school from the age of about 11 years when he went to secondary school - he was bullied for playing the piano - something that by all accounts, he did very well.  His reaction to this bullying was to stop playing which was a real shame.  He didn't take it up again until he became an adult.  So not only did the bully take this pleasure of playing away but I believe on a much deeper level, it damaged him in the form of anxiety and depression which went on into adulthood and affected all aspects of his life - he passed away - did the bullying way back in childhood contribute to his death?  You hear on the news how too many children (one is even too many) take their own lives because they are struggling with mental health issues.  According to Papyrus - prevention of young suicide, over 200 school children are lost to suicide every year - how many of these issues are brought on because of some form of bullying I wonder....  

To conclude then, it would appear that irrespective of which type of school a child goes to, whether it's a private, public, junior/primary school, infant, senior comprehensive or grammar school and be it in a well off area or a deprived area, all experience bullying in some form... no school or social class is immune.  What needs to be done I would argue is that education from very early on around bullying needs to be implemented.  This, I guess, is what schools are now trying to achieve with their behaviour policy and anti bullying policy but do they have enough power to conquer the bully in the school environment?  If we can educate right the way through the educational system on all levels, irrespective of social class, then perhaps we can create a kinder society.....