Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Liberal Democrats in Harrogate: Protection from school bullies urged

Stephen Goodwin
Thursday 17 September 1992 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

SCHOOLS should all have a procedure for monitoring incidents of bullying and agreed sanctions against the bullies, Liberal Democrats urged yesterday after hearing first hand of the misery it causes to thousands of children.

Anne Jones, who contested Hove at the general election, said she had been bullied from the age of five to 14 by other girls and was a regular patient at the local hospital casualty unit as a result.

'There were not many days at school when I didn't hide away from bullying,' Mrs Jones told the conference.

A motion, passed overwhelmingly, called for each school to have a policy to deal with bullying and at least two members of staff available for confidential counselling. The conference was told that 800,000 children a year were victims of bullying.

David Droar, 15, of Chichester, West Sussex, said a child who reported a fellow pupil for bullying could not escape retaliation. Staff could also be bullies, he added.

Tony Saville, of Morecambe and Lunesdale, said pyschological bullying could be the most damaging and was harder to deal with. Often it took the form of ridicule and isolating a child, for example over clothing.

'I am old enough to remember when labels were on the inside of clothes. Unfortunately now they are more often on the outside and quite often that is where it starts with isolating an individual,' Mr Saville said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in