Warwickshire youngsters urged to have their say on bullying
Young people in Warwickshire are being asked for their thoughts and ideas to help tackle the problem of bullying in schools.
An online bullying survey has been launched on Warwickshire County Council’s website to try and find out how much bullying is happening and what sort of bullying it is.
The survey, which is completely confidential, can be completed by following the link below.
The survey has been put together by Warwickshire’s County Youth Panel, which is made up of youngsters from across the county.
The results of their research will form part of a county-wide review of bullying in schools that is currently being carried out by Warwickshire County Council’s Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Councillor Richard Grant, Chair of the Committee, said: “Councillors felt that bullying should be a priority area of work for the Committee to tackle, we were aware that it is also a priority issue for the County Youth Panel so we asked them to scrutinise the issues around bullying on our behalf.
“We believe that by asking young people themselves to carrying out the research, we should get a real picture of the nature and extent of bullying in the county and more importantly a real picture on the effectiveness of anti-bullying policies and suggestions for improvement, from the people that really matter…young people.
“There are already a lot of good anti-bullying policies and initiatives in place in our schools. The aim of our review is to identify these good examples and spread them out around the county.”
The Youth Panel members also plan to visit local schools to talk to teachers about their bullying policies and practices and to speak directly to pupils to gain their views.
They’re being assisted in their research by Warwickshire County Council’s Anti-Bullying Co-ordinator, Youth Workers, and members of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny team.
Questions in the bullying survey include:
• Does your school have a bullying policy?
• Have you ever witnessed someone being bullied?
• How do you think bullies should be dealt with?
• What else do you think your school could do to stop bullying?
Young people completing the survey are not asked for their name, and do not have to give the name of their school. It’s quick and easy to complete and can be found by following the link below until the 8th June.