The report to the Commons Committee on bullying that mentioned the new type of spoilt “brat bullies” also made clear that the new breed of bullies tend to be girls.
The report to the Commons Committee on bullying that mentioned the new type of spoilt “brat bullies” also made clear that the new breed of bullies tend to be girls. The report by a senior OFSTED inspector, David Moore, told the committee of MPs that girls often laid themselves open to bullying by being more open about their feelings than boys and giving their tormentors ammunition to use against them. He also said girls used "non-verbal communication" and body language to bully each other. A group of girls would walk up to a classmate and deliberately turn away without speaking to her in order to isolate her. "Nothing is said but that actually diminishes the youngster in their self-esteem and confidence," he said. Mr Moore went on to criticise the lack of accurate figures to find out the extent of the bullying problem in English schools. He called for the Government to commission long-term research into bullying, arguing that previous short-term projects did not reveal the overall situation. He suggested that one way of tackling bullying would be for teachers to warn older pupils that they could face criminal prosecution for threatening, bullying behaviour. Michele Elliott of Kidscape also reported to the committee and also said children should know they will face punishment if they bully their classmates. She criticised a method of tackling bullying known as the "no blame" approach, in which children are encouraged to discuss the problem among themselves without being punished. "If you have got bullies, these kids are going to get the message that 'nothing is going to happen to me'," she said. |