Policy & Practice: Soapbox - Anti-Bullying Alliance must followGovernment's lead

But the alliance was still promoting this strategy on its web site four days after the Government made its position clear.

I have contacted education minister Jacqui Smith and asked her to write to all schools explaining that they can use punishment for bullying. In one case a parent complained about her child being bullied and the school said it was not allowed to do anything about it. If parents are being given this impression, what on earth is the Anti-Bullying Alliance doing?

The alliance received 570,000 in funding. I would like to know what this has been spent on, but attempts to find out under the Freedom of Information Act, and by asking the alliance for its accounts, have been unsuccessful. There have never been so many ways of tackling bullying in schools but it has also never been such a serious problem - I don't think this is a coincidence. We get 8,000 emails a year asking for help.