A quarter of bullied young people experience abuse on a daily basis and 45% of 13- to 18-year-olds have experienced bullying by the age of 18, according to anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label. Liam Hackett, CEO of the charity, said the survey showed “the profound effect bullying is having on children’s self-esteem and therefore the future prospects of millions of young people across the UK”.
The laws surrounding bullying in Britain are clear and some forms of bullying are considered illegal, whether they take place inside or outside of school. These include; physical violence or assault, theft, hate crimes and repeated harassment or intimidation. These types of bullying should be reported to an authoritative figure or the Police according to the government.
Teachers and school support staff should be aware of the ways to deal with incidents of bullying, depending how serious the act in question is. Even outside of school hours and off school premises, Head Teachers have legal power to make sure pupils behave well, including online. But according to a recent survey by the New Zealand Herald, one in four teachers say students have spoken to them about cyber-bullying- but two-thirds of teachers interviewed say that they don’t feel they have sufficient training to deal with bullying online and outside of school hours.
In fact, an annual global survey of teachers and students internet use by AVG Technologies, illustrated that parents expected teachers to educate their kids about internet safety. Yet one in three teachers felt parents themselves didn’t know enough about cyber-bullying and 77% of teachers asked agreed that internet safety should be a dedicated part of the curriculum.
