Almost half of the children in Shropshire have experienced bullying and one in eight has taken drugs, new figures claim.
Official school surveys of youngsters aged 10 to 15 years old show some 49 per cent have suffered verbal and/or physical abuse at some time in their lives – above the national average of 48 per cent – while 13 per cent admitted substance misuse.
The figures form part of a set of national statistics from Ofsted.
They have been released by the Conservatives.
Shadow families minister Maria Miller said the statistics were “very worrying” and called for measures to end what was a “broken society”.
But the figures appear to be at odds with other reports relating to bullying and substance misuse in Shropshire.
Frances Phelps, head of prevention services at Shropshire County Council, said today: “The most recent Ofsted ‘Tell Us’ survey reports that 12 per cent of Shropshire pupils aged between 13 and 15 stated they had ever taken drugs.
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“The same survey reports that 25 per cent of pupils aged between 10 and 15 said they were bullied once or more at school last year.
“The figures published by the Conservatives might have added in 14 per cent who said in another question that they were bullied elsewhere.”
Mrs Phelps added: “The Shropshire figures are no worse or better than those nationally.
However, 78 per cent of Shropshire children said they felt safe in a public area and 90 per cent going to and from school, more than nationally.”
She said the council and its partners took the issues “very seriously” and involved children, young people and families in their work.
For example, there are now 18 secondary schools with CHAT (Confidential Help and Advice for Teens) services, where young people could seek information, guidance and advice on bullying, drugs and a range of other relationship and health issues.
Forty schools have also been involved in anti-bullying projects.
By Dave Morris
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3 Comments
Bullying is a genuine concern for many, unfortunately all to often, the answer is to move the victim rather than stop the bullying. I would also suggest that teachers are also responsible and would suggest every parent asks for a copy of the log kept on their children, it will reveil interesting info.
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John Franklyn is right. Children are also bullied by teachers but often this is not acknowledged. Teachers can have a huge negative impact on a pupils self esteem and confidence and education potential. As a family my daughter had to deal with this type of bullying by two teachers in a senior school which went on depite very frequent visits to school to visit a Head who was unhelpful, unsupportive and denied it was happening. We eventually moved our daughter.
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The whole ‘verbal and/or physical abuse’ term is extremely vague. Real bullying shouldn’t be compared to the typical, occasional name-calling and posturing that everybody experiences at school – such things are part and parcel of life as a pubescent child. Real bullying, the kind that drives kids to considering suicide, is much different and perhaps a different question could be asked to determine that.
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