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The Positive Relationships Standard
Regulation 11
This chapter was amended in July 2022 to reflect Keeping Children Safe in Education Statutory Guidance, the outcome of Ofsted’s thematic report, Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
Bullying involves a desire to hurt-plus- hurtful action plus a power imbalance plus (typically) repetition plus an unjust use of power plus evident enjoyment by the aggressor and generally a sense of being oppressed on the part of the victim. These hurtful actions can be conducted one-to-one, or a group may persecute an individual or another group. Generally bullying is difficult for the victim to defend against.
Bullying - the 'hurtful action' can take many forms, but three main types are:
Cyberbullying is on the increase and can be particularly pernicious, literally following children/young people wherever they go, creating a sense of profound threat and violation.
Bullying can be about anything; it is often a way of making someone feel different, and frequently focuses on differences in race, gender, disability or sexual orientation/identification. Generally just being perceived to be different is enough.
An Ofsted thematic review (Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges (Ofsted)) identified substantial levels of sexual harassment for both girls (90%) and boys (nearly 50%) and that in a number of schools this went unreported as a result of the school's 'culture' – a part of which appeared to be that staff were not aware; did not countenance that this could happen, and because once it was discussed (the children) feared the process would be out of their control.
Sexual harassment and sexual violence exist on a continuum and may overlap. Where the latter occurs, there could be a criminal offence committed.
Children/young people in care are often from backgrounds, or have needs and conditions, that are in themselves risk factors in relation to bullying. The children/young people who are looked after by Childhood First will thus be particularly prone to being bullied or bullying. At Childhood First many children/young people will have been the victim of abuse and we are mindful of the potential for the child/young person who has experienced the powerlessness of 'victim' to seek to gain power by a gradual evolution towards the position of 'bully'. Our working ethos is one wherein the identification of this cycle, and its origins in each child/young person's personal history, is subject to a constancy of focused discussion/counselling.
Exposure to adult aggression, conflict and violence, particularly domestic and backgrounds of conflict, power-assertive discipline, domestic abuse, uninvolved fathering (for boys) and a domestic environment in which the child/young person feels that their views go unheard. Clearly the children/young people looked after by Childhood First have many of these risk factors and will be particularly prone to being bullied.
Identifying the type of children/young people who, through their personal traits, are likely to be vulnerable to bullying is problematic. Of course nobody ever deserves to be bullied, and being bullied is not the victim's fault. Nevertheless, evidence does suggest that victims of bullying may often be somewhat anxious children/young people, with poor social problem-solving skills and a relatively limited ability to read the motivations of others. As a result, they have fewer friends and are more isolated. They also tend to be smaller and weaker than their peers and attackers. Children/young people with Special Educational Needs do not always have the levels of social confidence and competence, and the robust friendship bonds that can protect against bullying. Other research suggests that girls who have been bullied are twice as likely as their non-bullied peers to have been beaten. Victimisation by peers or adults will be destructive of self-esteem; low self-esteem may increase vulnerability to attack, and so a vicious circle of decreasing self-esteem and vulnerability to attack may ensue. Clearly the children/young people looked after by Childhood First have many of these risk factors and will be particularly prone to being bullied.
Bullying is often a group-condoned activity that will intensify or decrease depending on the actions of those who are not the principal aggressors. The Childhood First methodology, Integrated Systemic Therapy Policy and the central place of the group with external facilitation should help ensure that bullying is tackled as the complex issue it is, not merely as an incident between two people. Additionally staff should be alert to the fact that children/young people will often tell their peers before adults. It is important to pick up on bullying incidents early and never to ignore suspected bullying.
The ability of staff to identify and tackle bullying and to respond effectively and sensitively will not only help resolve particular incidences of bullying but also to create a culture where further incidences may be prevented. This will include helping those who those who bully to change their behaviour. The Registered Manager should carry out regular risk assessments appertaining to bullying making a note of how frequently children/young people have been bullied, in what ways it has happened, how often children/young people have bullied others, whom they tell, where bullying has taken place and what action was taken and by whom.
A part of this must be to recognise where an offence has taken place. Sexual assaults (including rape) are clear examples of this together with the fact that legally a 13 year old child cannot ‘consent’ to intercourse. Additionally, creating or sharing explicit images of a child is illegal, even if the person doing it is a child. A young person is breaking the law if they:
However, if a young person is found creating or sharing images, the police can choose to record that a crime has been committed but that taking formal action is not in the public interest.
With effect from 29 June 2021, section 69 Domestic Abuse Act 2021 expanded so-called 'revenge porn' to include threats to disclose private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.
A specially designated record / log will be kept in which all incidents of bullying will be recorded. The details of how these incidents have been addressed will also be recorded in this book/log. Such incidents will prompt the creation of a Serious Incident Report. Key Workers will address any incidents of bullying within the Key working sessions with the child and record details of the meeting and identify any concerns.
The range of individual and group forums in which children/young people are helped and encouraged to express their views offer many opportunities to discuss and address bullying issues with openness and honesty. The Childhood First methodology, IST promotes a culture of appropriate personal empowerment, and resolution through reasoned discussion and it is the responsibility of staff to set an example which, with our help and support, the children/young people may be enabled to follow. The adults' responsibility is to maintain such a culture through the whole community, house and school, and between, so that children and young people experience the safety of adult observation, intervention and support in working towards resolution and an atmosphere of openness and warmth. These forums provide opportunities for children and young people to learn about keeping safe; to recognize and manage risks in different situations and discuss what kind of behaviours including physical contact is acceptable and unacceptable. Children/young people are helped to learn to recognise when pressure from others threatens their personal safety and develop effective ways of resisting pressure, as well as understanding their own propensities to creating dangerous situations. These forums provide opportunities for the role of the onlooker or bystander or even encourager to be explored and addressed.
Ensuring all children/young people have opportunities to talk individually with Key Workers, and others who they might choose, is important in the provision of a range of forums where they may air worries. It is important when talking to and counselling children and young people to know that an assertive response is often the most effective and also serves to protect the child/young person from any negative psychological impact. In contrast, responding aggressively will tend to exacerbate the situation, and passive responses (for example, ignoring, giving into requests) leave the victim vulnerable to further episodes. An important element to interventions with victims is to improve their coping skills and the way they respond to an incident of bullying
Childhood First is committed to developing and maintaining a group culture within which all individuals are supported in confronting both the external bully and the potential to bully within themselves. Children/young people are thus helped to develop insight into behaviours as well as empathy and assertiveness. The issue of bullying should be embedded within the educational setting, and teachers and house staff liaise closely together with educational colleagues to ensure all issues of bullying are fully addressed.Bullying involves many more children/young people than just the bullies and their victims; and it is this growing realisation that has refocused much modern research away from the psychological make-up of the victim and the bully, and onto the social context in which the aggressive behaviour unfolds. The mechanisms which maintain the problem, but are also the keys for preventing it and intervening, often lie within the peer group. As Childhood First's client group is particularly prone to being both being bullied and bullying, close attention is paid to how children/young people may take up the position of victim/aggressor and may become emotionally locked into one of these extremes or fluctuate between the two.
Also see: Sanctions Procedure.
Depending on the situation, a sanction may be imposed, according to the type and severity of bullying and further to dynamic exploration of the incident. The bully may be temporarily removed from the group or class, or participation in trips may be withheld.
Physical bullying is likely to result in grounding. Deliberate damage of property is likely to result in financial restitution. As described, many children/young people we work with have an increased propensity to bully; it is part of the task to work with this problem and it is understood that such issues take time to change. In rare or extreme cases however, persistent bullying or bullying consisting of serious violence could ultimately place an individual child/young person's placement in jeopardy and could even result in suspension or placement termination. Such a response would not happen without careful thought and only where all efforts to resolve it were unsuccessful and other children/young people were at real risk of harm.
From the outset of a placement each child/young person will be made aware that bullying is not tolerated. Instances of bullying will not be ignored or minimised but will be named in open meetings where incidents will be considered and resolutions found.
In order to maintain an effective strategy for dealing with bullying, traditional ideas about bullying should be challenged by everyone working in the Home, e.g. by emphasising:
A restorative approach and the use of restorative enquiry and subsequent mediation between those involved can provide an opportunity to meet the needs of all concerned. The child who has been bullied has the chance to say how they have been affected. The opportunity is provided for the child doing the bullying to understand the impact of their actions and to make amends.
Staff in the Home may have to deal with the perpetrators as well as the victims of bullying. It should be borne in mind that bullying behaviour may in itself be an indication of previous abuse or exposure to violence. The focus should be on the bullying behaviour rather than the child and, where possible, the reasons for the behaviour should be explored and dealt with. A clear explanation of the extent of the upset the bullying has caused should be given to the young person who perpetrated the bullying behaviour and they should be encouraged to see the bullied child’s points of view.
As part of making this explicit and clear all children/young people, taking into consideration their chronological and developmental ages, will be expected to sign an anti-bullying agreement. In doing this they acknowledge that they do not wish to live within an environment where bullying persists.
Training will be provided for all staff in order to help them effect this policy that will incorporate a range of strategies and sanctions designed to reduce bullying. All children/young people will be encouraged to participate in clarifying and developing these strategies.
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