Third of 16-year-olds 'bullied at school'

Education

Friday, March 02, 2007

By Bryan Gray

Almost 30% of 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland were bullied at school, according to a survey revealed today.

The Young Life and Times survey, a joint initiative between Queen's University and the University of Ulster, comes only a few days after it was revealed the UK is bottom of a league table for child wellbeing across 21 industrialised countries.

More than 800 children took part in the 2005 survey. The findings indicate that 28% of 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland said they were bullied in school. Alarmingly, the effects of bullying made the children more likely to be pressurised into drinking alcohol (37%), lose weight (30%), smoke (29%) and have sexual intercourse (9%).

Almost three-quarters of respondents felt that pupils at their school get bullied 'a little'; one in ten said pupils get bullied 'a lot' or 'not at all'. Some 30% said they had been bullied themselves.

Seven per cent of respondents said they had taken part in bullying other students. Males were three times more likely than females to say they had bullied other students (12% and 4%). Those who had been bullied themselves were nearly three times as likely to say they had also taken part in bullying other students.

It is made clear in the survey that 80% of students who took part in a follow-up study said their school had a bullying policy. However, their involvement in the development of these policies was limited.

Commenting on the findings, the author of the research update, Stephanie Burns, said: "One of the most telling results from this study is that 82% of 16-year-olds who said they were not bullied in school also felt that their school provided real help to people who got bullied. One of the conclusions we can draw from the research is that effective school bullying policies seem to reduce bullying incidences."