SAFER SCHOOLS NEWS – VOL. 19 

Bullying Research & Other Information 

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Bullied Pupil Threatens Legal Action

9-year-old Verity Ward is planning to take Bramcote Hills Primary School to court to force her school to protect her against bullies.

After 18 months of bullying and despite numerous requests from her mother, the bullying has continued. Head teacher Andrew Pearson issued a statement saying “All reported incidents of bullying are investigated thoroughly and action is taken in line with the school’s anti-bullying policy.” However, 18 months of “investigation” and “action” have yielded no result and the bullying continues.

Verity has already exhibited symptoms of severe psychiatric injury, including thoughts of suicide. At least 12 children commit suicide each year because they are being bullied at school and the responsible adults are failing in their duties to deal with the bullying.

Bullying in the Playground

The impact of interpersonal violence on…children’s perception of their play environment .

In Study One the extent of interpersonal violence (bullying) and the environment in which it occurred was investigated in a sample of 1050 … primary school children. On average across the three schools which participated in the study 23.8% of students reported being bullied once a week or more often. The bullying was reported as most frequently taking place during break-times in the relatively open playground spaces of the oval and hard surface play areas.

In STUDY TWO 365 students from one of the participating schools were further surveyed to understand the relationship between various indices of personal and interpersonal… well-being and the quality of peer relationships in the playground environment.  Students who reported being victimized were significantly more likely to report playing alone, feeling unhappier and less safe in the playground. The findings were discussed in terms of schools needing to address the issue of peer bullying and working to create a safer school environment for all children (Children’s Environments, 1995. 12 (3) 320-327).

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