Pupils help develop new policy on bullying in schools

Published on Tuesday 16 June 2009 19:25

A NEW policy to eliminate bullying in schools in Aberdeen, partly developed by pupils, was officially launched yesterday.

The new policy document sets out a range of strategies to deal with bullying in the playground, as well as "cyberbullying" and bullying by mobile phone.

Senior pupils from the city's Kincorth Academy organised workshops with primary pupils and worked with other secondary schools to provide input to the policy and to produce a special pupil advice leaflet.

John Tomlinson, Aberdeen City Council's director of culture and learning, said: "A great deal of time and effort went into producing this policy which aims to ensure children and young people will not experience any kind of bullying.

"We believe the policy has already had considerable impact."

Elaine Chalmers, the head of ChildLine in Scotland, said: "Thousands of children call ChildLine in Scotland every year with a bullying concern and it is young people who understand best how it should be tackled in their schools. Ensuring young people's voices are heard on the issue is vital."