The number one concern with young people in modern times is bullying of some sort with most of it starting at school; research released this week have stated that 60% of secondary pupils have experienced bullying. This comes as Rikama Education, who reported earlier this week, on Jeremy Wright who warns of social media operators to have tougher penalties for online bullying.
Children prefer speaking to peers
Of the students experiencing bullying, sixty-seven per cent of them stating that they find it easier to talk to somebody their own age rather than a teacher; this is a huge number of children. What can be to combat this? Several schools I know have introduced a peer-to-peer, or buddy, system where an older student will help a newer student once or twice a week.
One aspect that is been brought in is the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme which uses Facebook to train young people in anti-bullying prevention. Currently, this programme has been utilised in 770 schools working with 9,120 young people; this needs to carry on so that bullying can be reduced. What do you think should be done?