§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish statistics on homophobic and racist bullying within(a) schools and (b) colleges; and if she will make a statement. [7642]
§ Mr. TimmsBullying can put the emotional well-being and educational achievement of young people at risk. All schools should treat bullying seriously and take steps to combat it whenever and wherever it occurs. From September 1999 head teachers of maintained schools have been under a duty to draw up measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils, including racist or homophobic bullying.
Further education colleges are not under a legal duty to prevent bullying or harassment but most do draw up policies in this area. Students who experience problems can usually receive counselling or pastoral help.
We do not have reliable statistics on the incidence of bullying in schools and are not aware that such data exist for colleges. Our role is mainly to provide advice to schools on how to prevent bullying and deal with any which occurs.
§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the Government's strategy to deal with homophobic and racist bullying within schools and colleges. [7643]
§ Mr. TimmsBullying can put the emotional well-being and educational achievement of young people at risk. All schools should treat bullying seriously and take steps to combat it whenever and wherever it occurs. From September 1999 head teachers of maintained schools have been under a duty to draw up measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils, including racist or homophobic bullying.
Last December we launched a new anti-bullying strategy, comprising among other things a new pack for schools and accompanying video aimed at pupils. There is also a new anti-bullying website at www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying. The pack provides detailed advice on tackling bullying because of race or sexual orientation (the latter for the first time). It also mentions that heads can permanently exclude pupils responsible for persistent or violent bullying. The key message of our strategy is that victims should report bullying to someone they trust and not suffer in silence.
We have recently provided a short foreword to 'Safe for All: a best practice guide to prevent homophobic bullying in secondary schools' published by Stonewall.
1190WFurther education colleges are not under a legal duty to prevent bullying of harassment but most do draw up policies in this area. Students who experience problems can usually receive counselling or pastoral help.