Has school destroyed your creativity and self-confidence? I'm working on a book called Recovering From School, to help you heal the damage caused. Join the Patreon or Newsletter to be notified about updates. Paid Patreon members will get early draft previews, as well as a free digital copy when it's done.

UK: 'No blame' bully plan rethought

A controversial "no blame" policy for school bullies could be dropped after council officials said they would review the guidelines.

Teachers in Bristol had been advised not to "punish or humiliate" bullies in certain cases.

The policy attracted fierce criticism from Tony Blair who said bullies should be punished, and "made to understand the harm they have been doing."

A council spokeswoman denied education officials had performed a U-turn.

'Profoundly disagree'

Tony Blair had said it was an "extraordinary thing" for the Liberal Democrat-run council to advocate.

"I profoundly disagree with the decision that council has taken: bullying should be punished; children who bully must be made to understand the harm they have been doing," he told the House of Commons in November.

A Bristol City Council spokesman said it was "reviewing" its 'no blame' bullying policy after it was dropped from DfES guidelines in December but denied the education officials had performed a U-turn

The "no blame" approach, which was widely adopted in schools in the late 1990s, originated in Bristol as an alternative to directly punishing bullies.

It encouraged the bully to discuss with their classmates the root cause of their behaviour and to find a way forward with the help of a teacher.

------

Bullies bully because they want attention. Punishing them gives them attention. Making them talk about it would be excruciating for them, so I'd vote for that :P

Posted by: SoulRiser
Source Article

Posted in: News on January 4, 2006 @ 12:00 AM

Tags: School

If you like what we're doing here, you can become a Patron and sign up for our newsletter!