Research involving more than 44,000 children and young people has been published by the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) to mark Anti-Bullying Week 2024, which has been taking place this week.
The study was carried out between May and September 2023 and asked children and young people aged from 5 to 18 about their experiences of bullying.
Of the respondents, 72% said they had experienced some form of bullying, while 23% said they were frequently being bullied, rising to 29% for pupils with SEND and those in receipt of free school meals.
The research also finds that 23% of the respondents had experienced some form of cyber-bullying, with 6% saying they were being frequently cyber-bullied.
The findings also reveal that 37% of the respondents admitted to having bullied others, with 7% admitting that they frequently bully others, while 2% admitted to frequently cyber-bullying others.
Broken down by phase, 25% of secondary aged respondents said they were frequently bullied compared to 22% of primary school pupils.
Types of frequent bullying reported by the children in the survey included hitting, pushing or kicking (37%), name-calling (48%), being excluded from social groups (31%), and saying mean things about the person (55%).
The report finds a distinct link between bullying and pupils’ enjoyment of school. It states: “Both pupils that are bullied and those that report bullying others are significantly more likely to report that they don’t feel they belong at school, they don’t get on with their teachers, they don’t feel safe at school, and they don’t like going to school.
“Pupils who have been bullied and those who bully others are significantly more likely to report poor wellbeing – with those who bully the most likely to report poor wellbeing.”
The ABA is using the research findings and this year’s Anti-Bullying Week to call for a new requirement on schools to designate a member of staff as an anti-bullying lead and for a named governor to be responsible for whole-school anti-bullying strategy.
It also wants to see anti-bullying training for all school staff including mandating it as part of initial teacher training and the charity is recommending the introduction of a duty to record bullying incidents to help schools develop targeted interventions. There has been no government-funded anti-bullying support for schools since March 2024 when funding for the United Against Bullying programme was ended. The ABA also points out that government anti-bullying guidance has not been updated since 2017.
Martha Evans, director of the ABA, said: "These findings reveal worrying levels of bullying in England, but with whole-school anti-bullying initiatives, supported by skilled staff and strong leadership, we can make a real difference – boosting achievement, attendance, wellbeing, and belonging, especially for children with SEND and those in poverty, breaking down barriers so that every child has the chance to succeed. We urge the new government to act now."
Anti-Bullying Week 2024 began on Monday, November 11, and this year’s theme is “Choose Respect”. The ABA has created free resources for schools and parents to help empower children and young people to not resort to bullying, even when we disagree.
- For details of the work of the ABA, visit https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/ and for more information on Anti-Bullying Week, go to https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week-2024-choose-respect
- ABA: Bullying, school experiences and wellbeing: A picture of pupil experience in 2023: November 2024: Click here.