During last year’s Anti-Bullying Week: Make a Noise, VotesForSchools conducted a vote with 51,976 young people in the UK on whether their schools do enough to deal with bullying.
To mark Anti-Bullying Week 2023, VotesForSchools asked their young voters to reflect on the policies and schemes in place to help tackle bullying, both in school and in the workplace.
For this VoteTopic, Primary & Secondary voters considered, “Does your school do enough to deal with bullying?”, whilst 16+ & College voters discussed, “Is enough being done to tackle workplace bullying?”.
The results showed that:
64.9% of Primary school (ages 5-11) voters said Yes
70.2% of Secondary school (ages 11-16) voters said No
52.27% of Secondary school voters said Yes
73.0% of voters aged 16+ said No
When these percentages are broken down, the highest ‘Yes’ majorities came from the younger year groups in Primary schools. As the pupils’ age increased, more of them argued that their schools do not do enough to deal with bullying. This trend continues into Secondary and College, where every year group had a majority ‘No’ result. This trend suggests that many young people’s attitudes towards how their schools deal with bullying becomes less favourable over time.
Many Primary ‘Yes’ comments highlighted the steps their schools have in place to deal with bullying, such as designated adults and student champions. Some also mentioned that they have frequent discussions about it. The most common argument for voting ‘No’ was that sometimes the steps taken are not enough to stop persistent bullying.
Some Secondary students who voted ‘No’ gave examples of what more could be done to improve their school’s strategy against bullying. These included having more adults on duty at break times and making sure the bullying policy in place is explicit, known and adhered to. On the other hand, some ‘Yes’ voters said their schools do all that they can, and it is inevitable that some cases will slip through.
Martha Evans, Director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance commented on the results:
“The results are concerning, especially in Secondary schools, where over 70% of students think their school isn't doing enough to stop bullying. This shows how important it is to listen to students when we’re developing our anti-bullying approaches. It's crucial for the whole school to work together, make sure teachers are trained well, and have a good way to keep track of bullying levels. Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts, and appreciation to VotesforSchools for bringing attention to this important issue during Anti-Bullying Week and making a noise about bullying.”
As you can see in the comments below, those from Primary pupils tended to have a more favourable view of their school’s approach to bullying than Secondary students, however there was still a mix of opinions from both school settings.
“We are lucky in our school as we have Buddies and Advocates we can talk to you and who would come to see an adult with us.”
Primary School Voter
“No because although the teachers try their hardest, they all usually say: "Just ignore them and they'll stop," and it doesn't work.”
Primary School Voter
“There are lots of places to hide in school [and] a lot of places in school where bullying can happen.”
Secondary School Voter
“Not enough done to stop repeat perpetrators - only useful for one-off cases.”
Secondary School Voter
“They really try but no school is perfect.”
Secondary School Voter
We have many resources to help schools tackle bullying, as well as our free CPD accredited e-learning.
Please also see the resources on the VotesForSchools website.
