Beatbullying responds to Conservatives ‘More Ball Games’ report

04.02.2008

Responding to the Conservatives More Ball Games report published today, Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive made the following statement:

“Beatbullying welcomes the More Ball Games report published by the Conservatives today. Their ambition to develop new thinking on childhood is of particular interest to us and we are relieved that social responsibility, a core Beatbullying campaigning message, is central to the Conservatives’ new philosophy.

“In practical terms Beatbullying echoes the Conservatives call for the recording of crimes against children in the British Crime Survey. The current absence of this is worrying to us as our recent research tells us as much as 2,163 crimes, related to bullying, against children and young people went unreported in London alone in 06/07.

“Beatbullying is also encouraged by the Age Mixing proposals. We run very successful peer mentoring programmes in schools and communities and in best cases reduce bullying by up to 80%. Age mixing is integral to the success of peer mentoring programmes. It allows young people to have greater interaction with role models and peers who have a positive impact on their learned behaviour.

“Whilst the Conservatives are correct in saying that adults must take more responsibility for the safety of their own and other people’s children, last years UNICEF report specifically highlighted that young people in Britain simply do not trust other young people, therefore Beatbullying would have liked to hear more about the responsibility of young people themselves and the power of the peer. What are the specific Tory policies on peer mentoring and how does peer mentoring fit into the age mixing strategy?

“Beatbullying believes that bullying contradicts the basic British values of fair play, of social justice, of aspiration, of opportunity, of respect - it is something the whole nation must act collectively to eradicate, so we can really support the millions of young people who lay in bed at night terrified to go to school the next morning.  Young people that are being bullied at school are not able to make the most of themselves and their talents, because their ability to learn, to contribute, to be happy and just be a child is undermined and sometimes lost forever by bullying.  The introduction of progressive bullying prevention programmes in the UK will reduce bullying, reduce truancy levels, increase attainment and reduce the incidents of racist and homophobic violence and abuse in our schools.

“Broadly speaking, Beatbullying applauds the Conservatives ambition to re-think their philosophical approach to childhood, especially with regards to age mixing and perhaps most excitingly their call for the wider community to take a greater responsibility, which echoes Beatbullying’s core philosophy of empowering communities and young people to themselves create a world where bullying and child on child violence is unacceptable and unthinkable.”