Make the bullies change schools – not the victims

I was appalled to learn last week that 12,000 victims of bullying have to change school each year to escape it.

Isn’t this the wrong way round? Surely it is the bullies who should be forced to change school by being expelled. All too often the victims suffer more than the culprits. Maybe the culprits should be made to feel what the victims felt at the time. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Marc Hurstfield, Northfleet, Kent

I was bullied at my girls-only secondary school over a period of several months. I would be beaten in the playground and was waited for outside school by a bunch of girls who would form a ring to watch another beat me up. This was 48 years ago.

My parents removed me from that school and paid for private education. Maybe the answer is to have more schools with fewer pupils so that the teachers are able to keep an eye on what’s happening and have the ability to keep pupils in check. Too many children attending one school doesn’t help. Name and address supplied

One answer to cyber-bullying is obvious: stop using social media. If you want to chat or send pictures to real friends, set up your own group. Bullies can then only confront you face to face, where you have the benefit of redress. You will also find that you have far more time to do something useful, such as study, read, play or do homework. Alan Stackman, Calne, Wiltshire

I hope education officials will try to nip this in the bud. Bullies are making life a misery for youngsters who just want to learn.

Also worrying is the bullying that we don’t see. This can lead to psychological problems being suffered by victims. Schools could help by putting bullying in the spotlight in school dramas. Plays could show the nightmare bullying becomes for the victims.

Teachers and parents can also help by getting involved, and a lot could be learned by discussing books such as William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies. Let’s hope we can overcome this curse and build up the self-confidence of our children, and give them strategies to cope with the future. David Courtney, Weston-super-Mare

When parents want to be friends with their children – as so many do now – we’re in trouble. This just means the children don’t learn the stern life lessons that parents of previous generations would have taught them. The kids subsequently have less backbone and cannot stand up for themselves. One moan from them about bullies will make their parents panic and take the child out of school. J. McLean, Manchester

Comedians always say they learned to be funny to avoid being bullied. Maybe we’ll have future generations of brilliant comics. C. Dodd, Durham