Young people have their say on bullying
Warwickshire’s County Youth Panel have successfully placed the issue of bullying high upon the County Council’s agenda.
Warwickshire’s County Youth Panel have successfully placed the issue of bullying high upon the County Council’s agenda.
The County Youth Panel undertook a ‘Scrutiny of Bullying’ review on behalf of the Council’s Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The County Youth Panel’s efforts to address bullying in Warwickshire included putting together and carrying out a survey among school pupils to enable a better understanding of the issue.
A face to face survey, which sought the views of young people across Warwickshire, found that 62% of young people have been bullied which compares to the national figure by the 2006 Bullying online survey of 69%.
Producing a step-by-step guide for schools to establish effective anti-bullying policies, providing consistent anti-bullying training for those who work with children and young people, and raising awareness of an anti-bullying text service were among the County Youth Panel’s recommendations after a 12-month review. The council’s Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee today agreed with recommendations made by the County Youth Panel (Wednesday 23 January).
The review acknowledges and congratulates the many examples of good practice in the county’s schools, and contains recommendations which aim to build upon this good work and achieve a consistent approach to anti-bullying work across the County.
The County Youth Panel said that young people would like to be more involved in the work of Warwickshire’s Anti-bullying Partnership, especially in the existing stretegy and the development of an anti-bullying kitemark for all schools and youth centres. Young people also felt that there should be greater awareness of advice and support services such as the Text2Talk system, which allows young people to report bullying incidents anonymously and seek advice.
Councillor Richard Grant, Chair of the Children, Young People and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said: “Bullying is a priority issue and we want all children and young people in Warwickshire to feel included, supported and safe from bullying. Although there is already a lot of good work being carried out by individual schools and the Anti-bullying Partnership we want to achieve greater consistency across the board and have more rigorous measures of evaluation.
“By asking the young people themselves about bullying, we now have a better understanding of how the issue is affecting young people in Warwickshire and we are in a much better position to tackle this problem effectively.”
Warwickshire’s anti-bullying partnership consists of Warwickshire County Council, schools, Warwickshire Police and a range of other agencies including Connexions, Victim Support and Relate. The partnership has been in consultation with children, young people, parents, carers and schools.
For more information on Warwickshire’s Anti-bullying Partnership initiatives and to read the full anti-bullying strategy visit the website at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/bullying