Editorial: Bullying must be monitored to be tackled

While the committee recognises that there has been an increase inawareness of the adverse effects of bullying on children and youngpeople's happiness and wellbeing, it believes one major hindrance intackling the issue is a lack of reliable data about the scale ofproblem. This, of course, is exacerbated by the emergence of new formsof bullying, such as cyber and mobile phone bullies. As a result, itrecommends that every school records all incidents of bullying (seeNews, p8).

What is deeply concerning, however, is the suggestion that schools maybe resistant to this idea because of the potential damage to theirpublic image. While it is difficult to believe that schools would puttheir league table performance above their pupils' emotional wellbeing,the lack of progress in stamping out school bullying suggests that someheads and their staff are not devoting the energy or initiative requiredto make school a safe and welcoming place for every child.