Developing an evidential approach to keep prejudice-based bullying out of our schools
Ruth Coombs, head of the Wales Equality and Human Rights Commission, discusses prejudice-based bullying in schools – and the best ways of tackling it
Akey priority for the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Wales is to tackle prejudice-based bullying. This is bullying someone because of their identity, such as their race, disability or gender.
Research undertaken by Estyn (2014) shows that certain groups are far more likely to be bullied than others. This includes pupils with additional learning needs, ethnic minority pupils and LGBT students.
Bullying can have a lasting impact on young people; it can affect their studies and future aspirations, cause social anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide. The effects of bullying can continue into adulthood, impacting on mental and physical health as well as overall wellbeing.
A key aspect of preventing bullying is to have a good understanding of who is being bullied. By gathering this information, schools can better understand what issues or trends are emerging that need to be addressed.
This is why we invited schools to tell us how they gather equality information and use it to inform their anti-bullying strategies. We learnt that the most effective schools have a variety of ways to gather and use data to inform a range of innovative strategies. But each school approach has some common elements, including an acknowledgement that bullying takes place and that they have a duty to proactively find out who is being bullied and why.
The rewards for schools of capturing and reviewing data on prejudicebased bullying are significant. It enables schools to highlight issues they were previously unaware of, develop strategies to educate and empower students, and shine a light on other issues including poor grades and class absences.
We have developed a short film where headteachers share their learnings and tips for other schools which might be considering how they can enhance their anti-bullying strategy. In addition, we have developed online case studies to promote how school leaders have tackled particular bullying challenges.
One of our case studies is Crickhowell High School in the Brecon Beacons. This school uses a databased approach to tackle the growing problem of online bullying – especially involving sexually explicit content. Carole Phillips, the school’s anti-bullying co-ordinator, is auditing her colleagues’ knowledge of cyberbullying – and their experience of it in the school.
The audit will seek to answer two key questions – “Do we have a problem?” and “If so, how are we going to deal with it?”.
Over the past 12 years, Carole has developed her expertise in anti-bullying strategies, including time spent in the US evaluating the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme.
ONLINE SAVVY
In both her safeguarding role and as a teacher of personal and social education (PSE) at Crickhowell, Carole has seen a marked rise in cyberbullying – particularly sexting – over the past few years. Her PSE students, for example, are showing everincreasing levels of knowledge and sophistication about online content.
“You’ve got Year Sevens talking about the dark web,” she says. “I’ve had many trying to catch me out. ‘Oh miss, I bet you don’t know about ooVoo’ [an app for making video and voice calls and sending texts, with a minimum age of 13].”
She says it’s essential teachers know about the latest apps pupils may be using – and it is this knowledge that Carole’s audit is evaluating.
“If you haven’t got an on-the-ball teacher, cyberbullying can take place right under their nose,” she warns.
Carole will use the results of the audit to recommend specific training. “I’m about to do social media and internet awareness safety”, she says.
Giving parents knowledge is also key.
PUPIL SURVEYS
Crickhowell also builds a picture of bullying in the school through pupil surveys. The students answer questions, during pastoral time, about their experience of bullying.
They can submit their answers anonymously, which encourages them to give open and honest responses.
Carole introduced a pilot survey in 2015-16. “I created a questionnaire using SurveyMonkey,” she explains. “Before we rolled any [anti-bullying measures] out, we wanted to capture what was going on.”
Crickhowell is running the survey again in 2018, this time with specific questions on cyberbullying. To deepen the school’s understanding, Carole says “there will also be a lot more questions about whether pupils have witnessed any bullying around identity-based issues”.
SELF-REPORTING
Crickhowell also gathers data continually about bullying incidents through two self-reporting methods.
The first – which allows for anonymity – is a paper form that pupils submit to a postbox in one of the school’s corridors.
The other is a dedicated email address that pupils can use to raise bullying concerns, albeit without anonymity. All pupils are given a pocket-sized card to carry with the email address on it.
“We’ve had more response to the anonymised reporting mechanism,” Carole says.
Where pupils have chosen not to reveal their identity, the school “very carefully crafted an assembly tackling the issues identified”.
Carole plans to revise the anonymised forms to gather more data.
“I’ve included different aspects of bullying – was it identity-based? Was it homophobic, transphobic, biphobic? This will go hand in hand with the lessons the pupils have on identity-based bullying.
“There’s also a section on where in the school did it take place. Did you witness it? Were you a bystander?”
MENTORS
Another method of gathering anonymised data to identify problems quickly is through school mentors. These are specially trained sixth-form students, each attached to a tutor group of younger pupils.
Pupils can report bullying concerns to the mentors confidentially. Carole says the mentors maintain anonymous logs of incidents – “which year group, whether it’s male or female, what type of issues”.
CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE
One thing that struck Carole from her research in the US was how schools promote a culture of inclusion. “They’re big on school climate,” she explains.
Her advice to schools is to audit staff awareness of the problem – as Crickhowell is doing – but also simply to walk around the building to see whether messages about diversity, respect, rights and responsibilities are visible. “Take a note of what’s in your school to signpost visitors about how you deal with bullying – where you go for help, and how you tackle other issues such as LGBT.
“If pupils feel comfortable, they’re going to learn well.”
WHAT AND WHY
The school’s approach to tackling cyberbullying is to be explicit and open with pupils about their rights and responsibilities online.
Carole says: “When you talk to students about sexting – what it means, the Acts under which they could be prosecuted for cyberbullying – it gives them a better understanding.
“If you also explain why, they will take that message away more strongly.
“We’ve seen a change in the reporting of it,” she adds.
“Children will say, ‘Miss, you do know so and so’s doing it, don’t you?’. The children now are much more open.”
■ Find out more at www.equalityhumanrights.com/bullying