Capital bullying 'shows decline'

Edinburgh has been monitoring recorded incidents of bullying

Incidents of bullying in Edinburgh schools have fallen, according to the capital's local authority.

Edinburgh City Council claims a drive to weed out misbehaviour is proving to be successful.

The council became the first authority to start monitoring bullying five years ago, with teachers registering more than 700 incidents.

Since then the council said the level of recorded incidents had dropped by about a fifth.

As a result, council officers said they were confident that the problem was in long term decline.

The council did admit that figures had shown a slight rise in the past year but said they were still down on previous levels.

Psychologist advice

Schools in the city have been challenged to address under-reporting and staff and pupils have also received training on how to drive out the bullies.

Some senior pupils have even been advised by psychologists on how to help younger children.

However, the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) questioned whether the anti-bullying culture in schools had gone too far.

SPTC spokeswoman Eleanor Coner said she was concerned children could be demonised as bullies over a bit of teasing with classmates.

"Bullying is horrible but sometimes children are too easily labelled as victims and perhaps they need to cope better," she said.

The effects of bullying can last long after the bullying stops Jill Hamilton ParentLine Scotland

"You're always going to get a bit of 'Oi specky!' in schools, but is that really bullying? Is that really emotional or physical abuse?

"We can't shelter children from everything. For some kids who are being bullied maybe it's the way they interact with their peers that needs to change."

But Jill Hamilton, manager of charity ParentLine Scotland, welcomed the results.

"Bullying is one of the most common reasons for calls to us - parents worried about their child and not knowing how to help them," she said.

"The effects of bullying can last long after the bullying stops. It's so important young people feel they can tell someone about being bullied and get help."

Youngsters' calls

Edinburgh City Council's education director, Roy Jobson, said: "I'm delighted to see a drop in the reported figures overall as bullying and racism have no place in our society and this message is obviously being heard in our schools.

"It is a great achievement that even with increased reporting due to greater awareness in schools, the number of reported incidents has fallen over the five-year period."

In August, ChildLine Scotland reported a sharp rise in the number of calls from youngsters about being bullied.

In the year to March 2004, the charity received nearly 9,000 calls which were about bullying, a rise of 39% on the previous 12 months.

In the UK, the number of calls reporting bullying rose by 42% last year to 31,000.