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1 in 5 Sheffield kids bullied - and that's just this month
BULLYING is an everyday fact of life in Sheffield schools with one in five pupils surveyed reporting they'd been a victim during the last month.
A report to councillors next week says figures compiled by Ofsted also show 43 per cent of children questioned at both primary and secondary schools had been bullied during the previous year.
And 44 per cent said they believed their school did not deal well with bullying, in the survey which was carried out online.
Sheffield has also carried out its own research, and found 60 per cent of youngsters had seen other children being picked on or bullied.
A large majority had experienced verbal bullying while about half had been physically bullied themselves or had been left out by fellow pupils. A more recent survey was conducted by the council late last year and its results are expected to be published later this month.
What do you think about the situation with bullying in Sheffield schools? Add your comment below.
Sheffield schools meanwhile compile their own records of bullying incidents and these show a slight decrease over the last three years.
While homophobic incidents had reduced in number over that period, those involving racism rose from 257 to 325.
Roughly twice as many boys as girls were reported to be carrying out the bullying, but more boys were also victims.
The research also found 60 per cent of recorded bullying incidents took place in city secondary schools. But councillors are warned the schools' own figures may not be wholly reliable as they appear to interpret bullying incidents in different ways.
Most secondaries recorded fewer than 50 cases per year – but one recorded over 500, seriously compromising the overall statistical picture.
Meanwhile some primaries failed to submit returns or reported no bullying at all in their schools.
The report finds relatively few pupils are excluded for bullying – with the great majority of those that arein secondaries.
And councillors are told exclusions for bullying fell sharply during the year 2007-8 when new anti-bullying policies were introduced.
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
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