Bullying In Schools

Despite a high majority of schools insisting that bullying 'does not happen in their school', the EO Helpline continues to receive a distressingly high number of calls from families who are distraught at the bullying that has been inflicted on their child, sometimes by pupils, sometimes by staff. These calls come from all over the country and from families with children in primary and secondary schools.

Often the children are not only distressed by what has happened to them, but also because they are told that 'it is their imagination', or 'they have provoked it', or 'you have to learn to live with it'.

Children are rarely making things up and, in spite of physical signs of bullying, they are still not believed. In some instances they may have provoked a single event but not the incessant attacks they suffer and they should never have to learn to live with it.

As adults, if we are in a working environment which is bad for us and management do not resolve the issue, we have the choice to leave. We have the choice of making official complaints which will be listened to, if not by management at our own workplaces, to the police and to trade unions or employment tribunals.

Children are told, frequently, that they have no choice. That they must stay in school and put up with things. That they are 'the only ones complaining'. EO wants to draw the attention of LEAs, of Social Services, of Education Welfare Officers, of school teachers and head teachers that these children are not the only ones complaining. That they have the option of moving...not just to another school, but outside of the school environment altogether if they wish; to an environment where their thoughts and bodies are respected and where they can learn in a safe way.

The stories below are all stories which volunteers staffing the EO Helpline have listened to. We hope that everyone will read them and realise that families and children are not alone in their suffering and that other families have been through the same traumas and have resolved many of their problems through home education. All stories have been anonymised so that family/child privacy is maintained...and all have given their permission for their stories to be told here.

"Bullies can only operate when other people are too frightened, ashamed or embarrassed to talk about what is being done to them."