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What
could be done to support pupils who are being bullied?
One way of supporting
children who are being bullied is peer support. This is
when pupils are trained to help younger or vulnerable children
cope with problems such as bullying. When over 2,000 pupils
in Britain were asked about peer support schemes in their
schools, many of the bullying victims said that it had made
a difference and had helped them to survive. However, it
was found that the schemes did not seem to reduce bullying
in the schools. Some of the most common types of peer support
include: conflict resolution (where peer supporters help
younger or vulnerable pupils to work through school problems
such as bullying and racist name-calling); mentoring (where
a pupil who is usually older, provides another with a positive
role model, encouragement and support); befriending (where
peers offer their friendship) and counselling (with peer
supporters receiving training from a qualified adult).
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Article details
P Naylor and H Cowie
(1999) 'The Effectiveness of Peer Support Systems in Challenging
School Bullying: the perspectives and experiences of teachers
and pupils' in 'Journal of Adolescence', Volume 22, pages
467-479.
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Author details
 Helen
Cowie is research professor in the European Institute of
Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey.
She is also director of the UK
Observatory for the Promotion of Non-Violence and Co-ordinator
of Violence in Schools Training Action (VISTA). She has
published many books and papers on peer relationships and
support, bullying in schools and in the workplace and the
mental health of children and young people.
For information about
her research interests and her publications please go
here. She may be contacted by email.
 Paul
Naylor is Senior Research Fellow/Programme Convenor Certificate
in Peer Support at Roehampton University of Surrey. His
publications and research interests cover a range of topics
including: peer support, bullying, racism and social psychology.
For information about
his publications and research go
here.
Some studies have
looked at the effect assertiveness training has had on children
who are bullied and have found that it does help them. One
of the most important benefits of the training is that it
provides the children with new and more positive ways of
handling and responding to a bullying situation. It also
gives them the opportunity to try out their responses (for
example through role play) in a safe and supportive environment,
to become more comfortable with them. Another very important
benefit of the training is that it increases the self-esteem
and confidence of the participants.
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Article details
S Sharp and H Cowie
(1994) 'Empowering Children to Take Positive Action Against
Bullying', chapter in the book 'School Bullying: insights
and perspectives', edited by P Smith and S Sharp: Routledge,
London.
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Author details
Helen
Cowie is research professor in the European Institute of
Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey.
She is also director of the UK
Observatory for the Promotion of Non-Violence and Co-ordinator
of Violence in Schools Training Action (VISTA). She has
published many books and papers on peer relationships and
support, bullying in schools and in the workplace and the
mental health of children and young people.
For information about
her research interests and her publications please go
here. She may be contacted by email.
A valuable source
of support can be the family. A child who is being bullied
may well be scared to tell anyone about it. If the family
has already talked about bullying generally, it should be
easier for the child to discuss it if it happens to him/her.
The family can be there to listen and to offer support and
understanding, to approach the school (with the child's
knowledge) and to find ways of building up the child's self-esteem
and confidence. Good communication between parents and schools
is very important, not just when responding to particular
reports of bullying, but also when drawing up an anti-bullying
policy for the whole school.
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Article details
A Mellor (1997) 'Bullying
at School: advice for families', Edinburgh: Scottish Council
for Research in Education.
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Author details
 At
the time of the study, Andrew Mellor was a practising teacher
who had received funding from the Scottish Education Department
to carry out this project. He has been actively involved
in anti-bullying work in Scotland for almost 15 years, speaking
at conferences, writing for academic and non-academic audiences
and running in-service courses for teachers. He is now manager
of the Anti-Bullying Network, which is funded by the Scottish
Executive and based at The University of Edinburgh.
Teachers can play
an important part in supporting children who are being bullied.
According to a Scottish anti-bullying pack ('Bullyproofing
Our School') it is important to create an atmosphere in
the class which is supportive and positive and sends a clear
message that bullying is not acceptable. When the child
has reported bullying, responses by teachers could include:
reassuring the child and exploring ways of dealing with
the problem; looking at defence strategies; finding ways
of boosting the child's confidence (for example encouraging
a new hobby); and creating situations in the classroom where
the child can mix with other children more positively. It
is stressed that it is important to help build up the child's
confidence in his/her ability to work things out.
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Article details
A McLean (1994) 'Background
Reading for Schools', Book 8 in the pack 'Bullyproofing
Our School. Promoting Positive Relationships', Strathclyde
Regional Council, Department of Education. This article
can be viewed here.
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Author
details
 At
the time of this study, Alan McLean was Principal Psychologist
based at the Education Department Psychological Service
in the former Strathclyde Regional Council. His particular
interests in the area of bullying include: links between
bullying and motivation; the thinking processes and self-esteem
of the bully.
He can be contacted
at by email.
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