NCB Now: Don't be in denial about bullying

So how can a young person be expected to open up about their experiences of bullying when we won’t accept that it even exists? I can assure you it does and until we all accept that, and work proactively to alter it, the situation won’t improve.

Victims of bullying often blame themselves. Not only do they have to deal with the bully, they have to cope with their own poor self image and the fact that, sometimes, no-one in power wants to believe there’s a problem.

So, what can schools do to help? The biggest advice I would give is to make sure being bullied is not something to be embarrassed about in your school.
A victim of bullying has to have an outlet for how they’re feeling: whether this is through a text line, email or "bully box", or by telling other young people or school counsellors. Heaven forbid, it could even be the head teacher themselves.

I don’t advocate the punishment of any young person just to give a parent or carer their "pound of flesh".

We must change the behaviour of the bully to make sure they don’t just find a new victim.

I’m a big supporter of the restorative justice process to implement long-term change in bullying behaviour. We need to show bullying perpetrators how much impact their behaviour is having on the victim and their family and friends.

Doing this takes time, and time is money of course. But, the long-term change in behaviour that more often comes about is worth it, I promise you.

Vic Goddard, headmaster of Passmores School featured in the popular Channel 4 documentary Educating Essex