What are you doing about it?

September 11th has made us all think more about the origins of violence and about the threat it poses to our way of life. While international events may seem to run out of our control we cannot pretend that they do not affect us. They can even have links to what happens in our playgrounds and classrooms. Many Scottish schools have strong anti-racist and anti-bullying policies and have thus been well placed to tackle Islamophobia and other prejudices. In so doing they have not only protected those children who are vulnerable to racist bullying at this time but have helped to challenge the myths and misunderstandings on which violence and bullying feed.

The Anti-Bullying Network often receives calls from teachers asking to be put in touch with such schools - but fewer calls from teachers willing to talk about their own experiences. We want to hear from teachers who are prepared to share their experiences with others, perhaps by contributing to this newsletter, or by preparing a case study which we can publish on our web site, or by volunteering to lead a workshop at one of our conferences. If your school has a peer support scheme which is working well, a classroom resource which deserves a wider circulation or a successful whole school anti-bullying policy, please call us on 0131 651 6100. Good work deserves to be well known.

| Andrew Mellor |