Anti-bullying, Harrow Council, London
Monday, February 22, 2010
What are they doing? Harrow Council has set up a new Anti-Bullying Coalition to help tackle bullying in the local area.
To mark the launch of the coalition more than 100 young people aged between 10 and 16 attended a conference to discuss how bullying affects young people, particularly at school.
Why are they doing it? The council conducted a survey of young people that found bullying in school is still more prevalent than cyber-bullying. The survey found that 90 per cent of young people who experienced bullying were either physically or verbally bullied at school. This compares to 15 per cent of local young people who said they had been bullied online. Some young people experienced both types of bullying.
What else is Harrow doing to tackle the problem? Harrow was the first London borough to give every primary school child lessons on how to tackle verbal and cyber-bullying. Teenagers took part in a project to compile their 10 commandments of safe surfing. The council produced mousemats detailing the commandments and put them in schools, libraries and internet cafes.
Is it working? Christine Bednell, lead member for schools and children's development at Harrow Council, says: "By teaching young people how to reduce risk and help their decision-making in situations of potential danger we are empowering them for the future."
