Conference 2000Scotland
The World of School Bullying:
Parents, Pupils and Teachers in the search for answers
in different countries
"Could
you watch your child bite or scratch herself? Could you
do nothing if you found her rolled up in a ball under her
quilt saying, 'Don't put me through it any more'? Could
you watch as she becomes a prisoner in her own home
because she is too afraid to go out, or watch her open
her birthday presents through tears of fear and
depression? Could you listen to her saying, 'Let me die,
please let me die, then it will be all over'?".
Few people
could fail to be moved by this. It was written by the
parent of a girl called Sarah whose education and life
were so disrupted by the experience of being bullied at
school that she eventually needed psychiatric help. Her
story, unlike others which have ended in tragedy, has a
happy ending - two happy endings in fact. The first is a
personal success. Although we will never know what Sarah
might have achieved had she not been bullied, at 16 she
has managed to complete her schooling with an excellent
set of qualifications. Sarah was supported throughout by
a mother and father who were determined to fight for the
support that she needed when her teachers were unable or
unwilling to provide it, but who were willing to work
with her teachers when that was possible.
The second
positive outcome of this story is simply that it is able
to be told. Sarah’s parents took the decision that
bullying needed to be discussed more openly. They
provided advice to other parents whose children were
victims, and they formed a pressure group which
encouraged schools in their part of the country to adopt
positive anti-bullying policies. They proved that a small
group of determined parents can plant the seeds of
significant change in schools, providing they are willing
to applaud progress as well as to criticise failings.
Schools
which have been successful in reducing levels of bullying
have first acknowledged that a problem exists. They have
then gone on to involve parents, pupils and teachers in
the search for answers. Schools which have hit the
headlines because of serious bullying incidents are often
those where head teachers have claimed that there is no
need for a review of their anti-bullying policies because
they do not have a significant problem.
Bullying
has a long history
A noise
and steps are heard in the passage, the door opens, and
in rush four or five great fifth form boys, headed by
Flashman in his glory. Tom and East slept in the further
corner of the room and were not seen at first.
'Gone to
ground, eh?' roared Flashman; 'push 'em out boys! look
under the beds:' and he pulled up the little white
curtain of the one nearest to him. 'Who-o-op,' he roared,
pulling away at the leg of a small boy, who held tight on
to the leg of the bed, and sung out lustily for mercy.
Thus we are
introduced to possibly the most famous bully in English
fiction. It is Tom Brown's first day at public school and
Flashman's gang are looking for victims to be tossed in a
blanket. But Tom accepts his fate stoically. This does
not suit Flashman because:-
What your
real bully likes in tossing, is when the boys kick and
struggle, or hold on to one side of the blanket, and so
get pitched bodily on to the floor; it's no fun to him
when no-one is hurt or frightened.
Flashman was
the stereotypical school bully. His personality was a
complex one; popular with his peer group, secretly a
coward and impervious to the fear and hurt suffered by
his young victims. Thomas Hughes created him in 1857. He
appears in only a few chapters of the book. Eventually
Tom and friends call Flashman’s bluff. He is fought,
beaten, exposed as a coward, and finally expelled.
The validity
of such fictional descriptions was confirmed by
autobiographical accounts by such authors as Edward
Ardizzone, Graham Greene, Rudyard Kipling, Laurie Lee and
Sean O’Casey. If, then, there was so much knowledge
about the nature and consequences of bullying why did it
take more than a hundred years before a serious effort
was made to find solutions? And why were the seeds of
that effort sown in Scandinavia rather than in the
British Isles, where the word was invented and the
practices of bullying were institutionalised? The answers
to both these questions are speculative and backward
looking. How much better it is to examine and celebrate
the recent, remarkable progress towards reducing levels
of bullying which has been made in more than a score of
countries spread across the globe.
1.1 The
Search for Answers
The
Scandinavians have provided a model which has enabled
the process of developing strategies and resources to
be telescoped into a comparatively short period in
countries such as Scotland, England and Wales,
Ireland, The Netherlands and Australia.
1.1.1
Norway
All of
the teachers, educationalists and psychologists who
have carried out research into bullying in their
respective countries must acknowledge the pioneering
role played by the Scandinavian countries. In 1987 I
was one of two Scottish teachers who attended the
European teachers' seminar on Bullying in Schools in
Stavanger, Norway. This was indeed a seminal event.
It highlighted the anti-bullying work which had been
carried out in Norway and Sweden since 1969. It also
provided research evidence to show that it was
possible to reduce the level of bullying in school.
This challenged a fairly widespread assumption (in
Scotland and elsewhere) that bullying was an
inevitable part of growing-up.
One
small incident in the playground of a Swedish school
in 1969 caught the attention of a passing doctor,
Peter Paul Heinemann. A boy was being chased by a
crowd of others. He ran past Heinemann, through a
sand pit, and as he did so his shoe came off. But he
did not stop to retrieve it. He kept on running.
Heinemann picked up the shoe, a poignant symbol of
the boy’s fear, and as he held it he began to
remember things which had happened to him and to his
childhood friends many years before. Subsequently
Heinemann, who had a weekly spot on Swedish
television, talked about the incident in a broadcast.
He made a strong plea for public concern and action,
but he had a difficulty in talking about what he had
seen because there was no single word in the Swedish
language to describe what we would have called bullying.
He used the word mobbing, a term borrowed
from the work of Konrad Lorenz who described the way
that birds will attack a sick or weak individual.
Over the
next decade a climate of concern developed in Norway
and Sweden, fuelled by the effort of concerned
individuals, media interest and academic research.
This concern reached its peak in 1982 when two young
boys in Northern Norway committed suicide. It was
said that this was because of long-standing bullying.
In 1983
the Norwegian Government asked Professor Dan Olweus
to lead a national campaign against bullying. This
was a pioneering effort which has had a world-wide
influence. In 1989 a 150 page book called Bullying
- An International Perspective (Roland &
Munthe) showed that interest in the topic had started
to spread across Europe but that, outside
Scandinavia, little organised work had been done
beyond measuring and describing the problem.
A book
published in 1999, The Nature of School Bullying -
A Cross-National Perspective ( Ed. Smith et al),
shows how, in the last ten years, growing concern
about the level of bullying has acted as a catalyst
for a world-wide reconsideration of the way in which
schools care for their pupils.
1.1.2
Sweden
The Shared
Concern Method has been developed by Anatol Pikas
in Sweden. However, although it has been tried out in
a number of countries, it remains controversial.
Teachers do not usually have the time to implement it
properly and parents usually disagree with Professor
Pikas when he insists that they should not be
informed about what is happening, let alone be
involved. But some of the principles of this, and
similar methods such as the No Blame Approach
developed in England, are extremely useful. Children
who have bullied others are confronted with the
consequences of their actions and made to think about
ways of putting things right.
Professor
Dan Olweus has successfully encouraged the Swedish
Parliament to enshrine in law the right of children
not to bullied at school. He says that:
..it
is a fundamental democratic right for a child to feel
safe in school and to be spared the oppression and
repeated, intentional humiliation implied in
bullying...and no parent should need to worry about
such things happening to his or her child.
1.1.3
Finland
Schools
in Finland have adopted many of the anti-bullying
strategies developed in Norway and Sweden. A notable
incident was a court case in 1995 when two 15 year
olds were heavily fined for physically and mentally
bullying a classmate. This reminds us that what
happens in schools is not subject to normal laws. It
is interesting to note that the Finnish court imposed
much heavier fines for the psychological abuse than
for the physical bullying.
1.1.4
Scotland
The
starting point for Scottish action against bullying
was a research project, sponsored by the Scottish
Office (SO) which, with the help of the Scottish
Council for Research in Education (SCRE), I carried
out in ten secondary schools in 1989. The pattern and
incidence of bullying revealed was very similar to
that found in Professor Olweus' very much bigger 1983
survey of Norwegian schools. For example, 6% of
Scottish pupils said that they had been bullied
recently, the same figure as for the 12-16 age group
in Norway.
As a
follow-up to the 1989 survey the SO commissioned SCRE
to produce a pack which would assist schools in
developing policies against bullying. This was
published in 1992 with the title Action Against
Bullying. It was distributed to all Scottish
schools and subsequently to schools in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland. The success of the first pack
produced a financial windfall which was used to
finance the production of a second pack. It was
published in September 1993 with the title Supporting
Schools Against Bullying. It contains two
booklets. The first is directed at head teachers. The
second contains advice for families and is also
available separately.
The
publication of the report on the 1989 survey and of
the first SCRE pack created a considerable amount of
interest. After some discussions the SO agreed to
fund a service which would be based at SCRE under the
supervision of Pamela Munn, with me as the Scottish
Anti-Bullying Development Officer. The Scottish
Schools Anti-Bullying Initiative:
provided
advice, information and training
worked
with education authorities developing their
own initiatives.
This
initiative started in 1993 and was wound up in March
1995. During this period considerable progress was
made by some schools and local authorities.
A new,
government-sponsored Anti-Bullying Network, based at
Moray House Institute of Education in Edinburgh,
started in Spring 1999. It will use a variety of
methods including conferences, the Internet and a
telephone information line to spread good ideas to
parents, pupils and teachers about how schools can
reduce the level of bullying. Once the Network is
established it, together with the anti-bullying
advice line for youngsters provided by Childline
Scotland, will provide the focus for a co-ordinated,
government-sponsored approach to the problem.
The
essence of action against bullying in Scotland has
been to accept that a problem as complex as this
demands the development of strategies which are
suited to the different types of behaviour involved,
and to the structures and traditions of different
schools.
1.1.5
England and Wales
The
response to bullying in England and Wales has, if
anything, been even more diverse than that in
Scotland. Individuals such as Val Besag, Michelle
Elliot, Barbara Maines, George Robinson, Sonia Sharp,
Peter Smith and Delwyn Tattum; and charities such as
Childline, the Gulbenkian Foundation and Kidscape,
have all played a major part in supporting the work
carried out by schools and local authorities.
A
central focus for activity was provided in 1991 when
the Department for Education (DFE) sponsored an
intervention study in 23 schools, which was carried
out by Sheffield University. This showed that
significant reductions in bullying were obtained in
those schools which tackled the problem
enthusiastically, and where as many people as
possible were involved in policy development.
In 1994
the DFE produced a pack, Don’t Suffer in
Silence, which was offered to all state schools
in England and Wales. A significant development since
then is the increasing adoption by schools of
strategies which seek to involve pupils in solving
bullying problems and disputes. These go under
various titles, such as Buddies, Peer Mediation
and Peer Counselling. It seems clear that these
schemes show great promise and can provide
significant benefits to the youngsters taking part.
However, they are still at an early stage of
development and some problems remain to be solved
before they can be adopted more widely.
In
England, as elsewhere, there have been a number of
court cases involving bullying. Among the most
important was a 1996 case in which a school in London
was sued by a former pupil who complained that her
teachers had not done enough to protect her from
years of victimisation. The school did not accept
liability, but paid the girl £30,000 in an
out-of-court settlement. The threat of legal action
from parents and pupils who have suffered because of
bullying, together with the pressure of OFSTED school
inspectors asking about schools’ anti-bullying
policies, has ensured that the subject is now firmly
on the educational agenda.
1.1.6
Ireland
In 1993
the Irish Department for Education issued guidelines
for schools. These had been prepared by a group which
included, along with government and parents’
representatives, two people who helped to create an
interest in the topic through their research -
Brendan Byrne and Mona O’Moore. The guidelines
recommended that each school should have an
anti-bullying policy and that the whole school
community should be involved in developing such a
policy.
Parents’
groups have played an important part. The Campaign
Against Bullying was formed as long ago as 1983 and
more recently the National Association for the
Victims of Bullying was formed. The National
Association of Parents and the National Parents
Council have both produced literature giving advice
to the parents of bullying victims.
The
Irish police (the Garda) have worked closely with
schools. Over 600 Gardai have received special
training to help them co-operate with in schools in
the development of preventative programmes. When the
Gardai become involved in responding to a case, their
priorities are to act in a discreet manner, and to
find a way of stopping the bullying quickly.
The
Anti-Bullying Centre is based in Trinity College,
Dublin with Mona O’Moore in charge. It aims to
carry out research, provide advice to teachers and
parents, and to organise training and conferences.
1.1.7 The
Netherlands
There
have been a number of important research projects and
interventions against bullying in this country. Four
national organisations for parents (LOBO, NKO, Ouders
& COO and VOO) have collaborated to produce a
brochure entitled, How to Deal With Bullying at
School. This contains a strategy for a parent
initiated anti-bullying programme. It also contains a
copy of The National Education Protocol Against
Bullying - a document intended to be discussed
and signed by all members of a school community
including teachers, management, pupils, school boards
and parent associations.
Information
about this programme is available from: VOO, Postbus
10241, 1301 AE Almere, The Netherlands
1.1.8
Japan
"Ijime"
is the Japanese word for bullying. Because of a
number of well-reported cases of suicide it has
become a major cause for concern in the country.
Large scale research studies have found many
similarities with the pattern of bullying in other
parts of the world. Coping strategies are being
developed which suit the distinctive culture of the
country.
1.1.9
Australia
There
are many Australian developments which could be
listed but space permits just three:
A
book by Ken Rigby, Bullying in Schools and
What to do About it, provides a
comprehensive, accessible overview of
anti-bullying strategies and a balanced
discussion of their merits and problems.
Professor Rigby, and his colleague, Phillip
Slee have been responsible for initiating
perhaps the most influential Australian
research into the subject,
The
Peer Support programme was a response to the
need to provide social education for pupils
in Australian schools. There is no direct
equivalent of our system of guidance
teachers. Older pupils are given training and
support to help them act as tutors to younger
pupils. The aims of this programme go beyond
reducing the level of bullying, but it has an
important part to play in creating a
co-operative, non-violent ethos in schools.
The
P.E.A.C.E. Pack, by Phillip Slee, is an
attempt to produce a manual which covers all
aspects of the development of a
school/community anti-bullying policy.
Reports suggest that its use may lead to
reductions in levels of bullying of up to
50%.
2.1
International Programmes
International
links between individuals have helped to promote an
exchange of ideas which has greatly speeded the
development of intervention strategies. International
conferences and seminars for teachers and researchers
in Norway, Ireland, England, Australia and Slovenia
have played an important part in this process.
Recently, a cross-national programme has been
started, with the aim of producing a manual which
will be used by teachers across Europe:
ILES
- Improving the Learning Environment in Schools
through effective anti-bullying and discipline
strategies - This three year project, which
started in February 1998, is part of the European
Union’s "Comenius Action" programme
for the in-service training of teachers. It involves
a partnership between teachers’ unions in
Ireland (ASTI), Scotland (EIS) and France (FEN). It
aims to promote the creation of more productive
learning environments in schools, and its immediate
outcomes will be the production of a training manual
and the provision of in-service training in the three
countries involved. The six people who are writing
the manual and preparing the training programme are
all classroom teachers.
3.1 Conclusion:
Prevention is Better than Cure
I
feel it is my fault I get bullied. I get called a
snob because of the way I talk so I try to change the
way I speak. Instead of saying 'yes' I might say
'aye' or 'ken'. My bulliers find fault with
everything I do. If I get an A in a test I get
slagged. If I get a B in a test I get slagged. I can
do nothing right. If I fail a test I get an even
bigger slagging. I can't win. Please help.
School
is obviously a negative experience for the fourteen
year old pupil who wrote this. He has not been hit or
kicked. Nobody is stealing from him. He is
intelligent and lives in a 'nice area' and yet his
sense of self-worth is being systematically
destroyed. What message do children like this get
about their school? At best, it may seem that adults
are too busy to notice their distress. At worst, they
may become alienated from an institution which seems
to value their own feelings so lowly. If they are to
be helped schools must embark on the process of
developing, or refining, their anti-bullying
policies.
The
level of bullying in schools is unlikely to be
significantly reduced if teachers and parents wait
for incidents to happen before they respond. Research
studies in a number of countries have shown that
simple, pro-active strategies can reduce the level of
bullying in a school by up to 50%. This leaves a huge
amount of bullying which still has to be tackled, and
the manner in which it is tackled will have a strong
influence on the way that children act in the future.
Over the
last few years schools across the world have tried
out a range of strategies which they can apply in
different situations. The old knee-jerk reaction,
where punishment was seen as the only possible
solution to bullying, has mostly gone. Few Scottish
schools have removed the possibility of punishment
entirely but many have tried out "no-blame"
techniques, in appropriate circumstances, with a
considerable degree of success.
Of
course there are some very strong arguments in favour
of retaining sanctions as a response to serious
bullying incidents. Young people are entitled to
learn that their actions may have consequences for
themselves as well as for others. Punishment can act
as a sign of community outrage. And schools are not
outside the law of the land - some forms of bullying
are crimes. But an adult who wishes to retain
self-respect as well as the respect of young people
can only apply punishment when an offence has been
proven. While you are waiting for this proof to
emerge the bullying continues, and the victim’s
torment continues. Surely, the priority should be to
bring the problem out into the open, and to intervene
early and effectively? A school which is successful
in this will develop an ethos in which bullying is
less likely to happen and where all pupils are able
to learn in an atmosphere which is free from fear.
Andrew
Mellor
The World
Wide Web
For more
information about bullying visit the SCRE Website at
- http://www.scre.ac.uk
References
Byrne,
B. (1993) Coping With Bullying in Schools Dublin:
The Columba Press
Byrne,
B. (1994) Bullying - A Community Approach Dublin:
The Columba Press
Elliot,
M. (1997) Bullying - A Practical Guide to Coping
for Schools London: Pitman
Johnstone,
M., Munn, P., Edwards, L. (1992) Action Against
Bullying Edinburgh: Scottish
Council
Research in Education
Mellor,
A. (1990) Spotlight 23 Bullying in Scottish
Secondary Schools Edinburgh: SCRE
Mellor,
A. (1997) Bullying at School - Advice for Families
Edinburgh: SCRE
Mellor,
A. (1994) Spotlight 43 Finding out about Bullying.
Edinburgh: SCRE
Mellor,
A. (1995) Which Way Now? A Progress Report on
Action Against Bullying in Scottish Schools Edinburgh:
SCRE
Roland,
E. & Munthe, E. (1989) Bullying - An
International Perspective: London: David Fulton
Publishers
Scottish
Council for Research in Education (1993) Supporting
School Against Bullying. Edinburgh: SCR
Scottish
Office Education Department (1994) Focus No.4 Focus
on Bullying HMSO
Scottish
Office Education Department (1994) Let’s Stop
Bullying—Advice for Young People HMSO
Scottish
Office Education Department (1995) Let’s Stop
Bullying—Advice Families HMSO
Smith PK
et al (1999) The Nature of School Bullying - A
Cross-National Perspective London: Routledge
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