Bullying

What can be done?

Schools can do a lot to stop bullying happening and should have a clear, well-publicised policy on bullying.

Research shows that when everyone involved in the school (teachers, students, parents and non-teaching staff) takes a strong and open stand against bullying, it is far less common.

It must be made clear that everyone should be respected, and students have a right not to be bullied. It is very important that schools encourage students to accept that it is not wrong to 'tell'.

People also need to understand that something will be done to stop the bullying, otherwise they might not tell.

Schools can also help young people learn skills in how to sort out conflict in an acceptable way. Befriending and buddying schemes can also play a useful part.

If you want to read more…

Books

• Bullying - by Michelle Elliot (1998), published by Hodder Children's books. A book to help teenagers cope with bullying and how to get help. It has chapters on standing up for yourself and feeling better about yourself.
• We are Talking about Bullying - by Anne Charlish (1999), published by Hodder Wayland. Explains why people bully, its effects on people, how to prevent bullying and where to get help. It follows four true-to-life case studies involving children who are being or who have being bullied, or who are bullies themselves.

Factsheets

• Bullying - a factsheet about bullying available from ChildLine.

Leaflets and booklets

Documents

To view these documents you might need to download some software. Visit our downloads page for more information.

Bullying: A Guide to the Law - information sheet offering a guide to young people about how to tackle bullying. It includes information on how to make a complaint and legal action. File format Adobe Acrobat (pdf) - 464KB

The content for this area of the site has been provided by Wired for Health website. The Wired for Health series of websites are funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills and managed by the Schools and Young People's Health Team at the Health Development Agency. Crown Copyright, March 2005.