“Bullies thrive wherever authority is weak.”
So said author and anti-bullying activist Tim Field.
He was talking about workplace bullying, but it’s a line that rings true of secondary schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in 2023.
I’ve recently written articles detailing harrowing stories of pupils and parents being pushed to the edge by bullies at schools like Bridge of Don Academy and Inverurie Academy.
Of parents keeping their kids at home, sometimes for years, to protect them from physical and verbal abuse at school.
Whenever I publish bullying stories, I am inundated with parents – and pupils – wanting to speak to me.
And not just from one or two schools either. It’s right across the north-east: urban areas, rural areas, small towns, big towns, affluent neighbourhoods, deprived neighbourhoods.
Parents have phoned me in tears, at the end of their tether, not knowing what to do or where to turn.
With the grown-ups no longer in charge, bullying in schools is getting more serious
But I don’t think the bullying itself is the big story here.
As abhorrent as bullying is, it’s been going on for as long as there have been schools. It doesn’t make it right, but there we are.
There was bullying at my secondary school in the 1990s.
But here’s the crucial difference.
When I was at school, those in authority at least tried to face up to it. They at least admitted it was happening, and took steps to deal with it. Punishments were meted out. Pupils were suspended, some even expelled.
In other words, the grown-ups were in charge.
The parents, pupils and even teachers who get in touch with me all say the same thing. That their school is turning a blind eye.
More than one parent has told me that their kid’s school is flat out denying there’s any bullying taking place.
Another said their child’s school was more concerned about having all the right paperwork filed than the welfare of their child.
Comments like “the school couldn’t care less” are commonplace. “The bullies have won”, said one parent.
A teacher told me they’d been told to keep exclusions and suspensions down.
Another said they were “powerless” to deal with badly behaved pupils.
Why are those in positions of authority so scared of kids these days?
I’ve seen the videos of pupils fighting (on what seems to me to be school grounds). I say fighting, it’s usually simply a defenceless pupil being beaten up by another.
I’ve seen the videos of pupils verbally abusing teachers during class, with no consequences. Good luck trying that in the workplace.
Friends of mine with younger kids say they’re terrified of their children stepping up to secondary school.
Both as the parent of secondary school children, and as schools correspondent at The P&J, it’s clear as day to me that the kids are now in charge.
Why are those in positions of authority so scared of kids these days?
“Bring back the belt”, some readers say.
Most local authorities in Scotland banned corporal punishment in the early 1980s, before legislation came into force in 1987.
I wouldn’t bring back the belt, but we’ve gone far too far towards the opposite extreme.
In the old days, teachers had all the authority. Now they don’t seem to have any – not even the heads. Or if they do, something is stopping them using it.
Fear of parents? Fear of council bosses?
During the 1990s, society seemed to have reached a happy medium.
Children no longer lived in fear of the belt. But they still knew there were consequences for misbehaviour, and that bullying was not tolerated.
The teachers no longer had a belt, but they were still in charge and we kids knew it.
Talking about policies, procedures and paperwork does nothing
Even at home, the vast majority of us knew we’d be in for it if our parents got wind of us bullying other kids.
Do the parents of today’s bullies know what their kids are up to at school? Do they care?
If my kids’ school phoned me and told me they’d caught them bullying other children, I’d be mortified. Rightly or wrongly, I’d feel like I’d failed in some way.
And as for the schools themselves, or the councils who speak on behalf of them, I wonder if they care about children’s welfare as much as the reputation of the school or ‘having the right paperwork’?
Both Aberdeen City Council’s and Aberdeenshire Council’s responses to The P&J regarding incidents of extreme bullying have been feeble to say the least.
Aberdeen City Council said it “takes the safety of all young people seriously”.
Aberdeenshire Council talked about “policies and procedures”.
Nothing about what is being done about the bullying epidemic in our schools.
That’s not good enough for the children across our region who are missing out on an education while the bullies win.
Calum Petrie is a father-of-three and writes features about schools, education, and family matters.
Has your child had issues with bullying in school? Contact us at schoolsandfamily@pressandjournal.co.uk
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