Parents slam government bullying action as ineffective
26.03.2007 | Campaign launched to establish bullying prevention funds
As new research finds that 2 in 3 parents believe the Government is not doing enough to tackle bullying, top children’s charity Beatbullying today challenges Chancellor Gordon Brown to pledge four quid a kid to prevent the most widespread problem facing young people today once and for all.
The research released today by Beatbullying and News of the World, conducted by ICM, found that 61% of parents are concerned that their child could become a victim of bullying at school.
And of those parents of bullied children, 92% contacted the school about it and over a third (37%) considered the action taken to be ineffective with 13% describing the teachers as unresponsive and unhelpful. This rises to 46% and 16% respectively when the child is aged 16-18.
The findings encouragingly show that parents appear well educated about bullying, as 80 per cent are familiar with their child's school's bullying policy. But clearly feel that this policy needs to be translated into practice.
Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive of Beatbullying said: “The research is telling us that parents have had enough with ineffective anti bullying policies. Tokenistic pieces of paper stuck on a wall will not work. There needs to be practical standardised bullying prevention training in schools nationwide – for pupils, teachers and parents. It is clear to us that parents proved they are willing to do their bit, now it's up to the Government to do its bit.”
For seven years UK charity of the year, Beatbullying, has been tackling bullying differently by PREVENTING it rather than intervening. Now 81% of the UK public have spoken up and told Gordon Brown that they want to see bullying PREVENTION schemes in all UK schools.
Cross continued: “If a child has to call a helpline or see a counsellor because of bullying then society has already failed them, we need to put in place the training and the help to prevent bullying from starting in the first place.”
Beatbullying says that if the government spend only £4 of the £6,660 ringfenced for every child’s education on anti bullying prevention schemes then bullying and child on child violence could be significantly reduced. In the budget last week Gordon Brown announced that education spending would rise to £90 billion by 2010-11. 4quidakid to tackle bullying is just £36 million of that £90 billion, or 0.04% of the education spend.
The Select Committee Report on Bullying will be published tomorrow (Tuesday 27th March), where it sets out recommendations for how the government should change policy on bullying. Beatbullying says that it hopes the report includes a new focus on bullying PREVENTION.
The new research also revealed that 11% of parents who discovered their child was experiencing bullying kept their child at home.
Beatbullying's prevention programmes have been independently evaluated and scrutinised and are proven to reduce bullying by 40% and increase the reporting of bullying by 60%. The cost of doing this is a mere £4 per child or £36 million per year for every child and school in the UK.
Cross concludes: “we are asking every person who has ever worried about bullying to demand that the Government does more to beat bullying and pledges 4 quid a kid – go to www.Beatbullying.org/4quidakid to sign the petition.”
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For interviews, case studies, filming opportunities and further information please contact:
Niall Cowley niall.cowley@Beatbullying.org 07904 343 950
Richard Piggin Richard.piggin@Beatbullying.org 07875 481 142
Notes to editors:
Beatbullying:
- Beatbullying is the current 2006 UK Charity Awards Charity of the Year
- Beatbullying is the largest stand alone anti-bullying charity* in the UK
- Beatbullying was launched in 1999 and aims to reduce and prevent the incidence and impact of bullying, (physical, emotional, verbal, genderised, racist, inter-faith, homophobic) between young people
- Beatbullying empowers young people to lead anti-bullying campaigns in their schools and local communities, and builds the capacity of local communities to sustain the work
- Research was conducted by ICM for News of the World and Beatbullying of 797 adults with children aged 5-18 from 24 Jan to 1 Feb 2007.
- For more information visit www.Beatbullying.org and www.bbclic.com