The alliance is expected to bow to pressure and ditch the controversialidea that schools and local education authorities should only usepunishment as a last resort. The new mission statement will instead openup the possibility of appropriate punishment being meted out at anearlier stage.
Simon Blake, acting manager of the alliance, said: "We are rewriting itto make sure there's no ambiguity. What we are saying is that punishmenton its own is not going to be effective, but that equally schools andothers need to have a system in place and sanctions may be part ofthat.
We have a whole range of different approaches that people are using andpunishment has to sit as part of that range."
The Anti-Bullying Alliance is an independent body that brings togethermore than 50 national organisations from the local government, voluntaryand private sectors. It has received 570,000 in funding from theDepartment for Education and Skills since 2002.
Its current mission statement says that providing advice and support tobullies can have "a huge impact on the level of bullying" but it is farless enthusiastic about punishment, insisting: "The Anti-BullyingAlliance believes that in very serious cases punishment, includingexclusion, is appropriate but should be used as a last resort."
The move to revise the statement comes a week after schools ministerJacqui Smith told The Observer that the Government did not agree withthe alliance's stance on punishment. She said: "Our view is thatpunishment should not be the last resort, that bullying should bepunished and bullies must be made to understand the harm that they havebeen doing."
Bullying Online, a charity that has always been a strong critic of thealliance, this week welcomed the prospect of a new "zero tolerance"approach to bullying. Director Liz Carnell said:
"We don't believe that low-key mediation, counselling and no-blame-stylepolicies are appropriate where there has been violence and extortioninvolving children over the age of criminal responsibility."
Bullying Online is calling on the Government to evaluate anti-bullyingmethods currently used in UK schools. Carnell said: "We are pressingJacqui Smith to commission independent research as a priority."
