‘Over 50% of pupils in Wales will experience bullying. Tackling identity-based bullying should be a priority for all schools’
The theme for this year’s AntiBullying Week “All Different, All Equal” provides a real opportunity to highlight that far too many children and young people in Wales are bullied in school because of their race, faith, disability, sexuality or gender identity, while lots of pupils will experience sexual harassment and sexual name calling.
Identity-based bullying is any form of bullying that relates to the characteristics considered to be part of a person’s identity or perceived identity group.
It can include stigmatising a disabled student, using homophobic language, trying to pull off a Muslim student’s hijab or pupils being subject to unwanted touching.
This week we have launched an animation to highlight the scale and impact of bullying in schools.
Evidence from our Is Wales Fairer? report shows that up to 50 per cent of pupils will experience bullying in Wales, with certain groups of children and young people even more likely to be bullied.
Identity-based bullying can have long-term implications.
It can harm children and young people’s wellbeing and impact on their educational attainment and potential.
Given this evidence we have prioritised the need to reduce identitybased bullying.
The aims of this year’s Anti-Bullying Week are to:
Empower children and young people to celebrate what makes them, and others, unique;
Help children and young people understand how important it is that every child feels valued and is included in school, able to be themselves, without fear of bullying;
Encourage parents and carers to work with their school and talk to their children about bullying, difference and equality;
Enable teachers and other children’s workforce professionals to celebrate what makes us ‘all different, all equal’ and celebrate difference and equality;
Encourage them to take individual and collective action to prevent bullying, creating safe environments where children can be themselves.
Tackling identity-based bullying should be a priority for all schools in Wales.
Estyn’s new inspection framework recognises the need to prevent and tackle identity-based bullying within the inspection areas of wellbeing and attitudes to learning and care, support and guidance.
I have very much welcomed the opportunity to work in partnership with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales Professor Sally Holland to develop an anti-bullying resource for secondary schools in Wales.
“Sam’s Story – It Will Get Better” includes five interactive teaching and learning sessions to be delivered in schools to raise awareness of identity-based bullying.
The resource includes top tips for headteachers to tackle identitybased bullying.
I would encourage all schools in Wales to utilise these tips and also the more detailed guidance we have on our website. This will enable schools to understand who is being bullied within their schools and take action to prevent and tackle the issue.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission regulates the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which places responsibilities on schools to promote equality and tackle discrimination.
Our anti-bullying resources show
This week is Anti-Bullying Week and research shows half of children in Wales will experience bullying. Here Ruth Coombs, head of Wales Equality and Human Rights Commission, outlines work being done to tackle the problem...