Do schools REALLY do anything about bullying?

Nowhere I've been to has had a strict anti-bullying policy, even though they claim to have done. I was attacked in school twice within the space of two years, and one was excluded for two months, the other was only given an after-school detention. I was bullied since I was 9, and this was all because of acne. But nope, I was even called 'gay' and 'tranny', even though there was no provocation.

Because I then went to the same secondary school as those who bullied me in primary, it got to the point where I had vicious rumours spread about me, even one where I killed some girl's dad. It sounded far-fetched, but everyone believed it, because this girl was the most popular in the year.

Some of the rumours even went on to while I was in sixth form. I'd left, and went to a different college. One of the bullies had followed me into the same college, and had come up to me and my friends one day. I blatantly ignored her. The next time she came over, she gave me a leaflet about vaginal discomfort. And so me and my friends gave her a taste of her own medicine.

However, I did a different course within the same college after that. Of which I was called a whore for passing my driving test (presumably because I'd apparently seduced my driving instructor) and had a large rock thrown at my head. I still hadn't had the courage to report it to anyone.

The problem I have is, when I get bullied, nothing happens. I retaliate in self-defense, and I'm the one to blame.


Bullying sucks. But there was supposed to be a law passed ('Laura's Law') that would make bullying illegal. And it's quite concerning that this hasn't happened at all, and bullies are allowed to get away with ruining someone's life.

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. I was bullied mostly because of my acne, too. I agree with you. That law should have been passed.

Are you doing better now?

Yeah, I'm doing much better now, thanks although I found out recently that a few people from my old school will be on the HND course that I'm starting in September. So yeah, I'll have to see how that works out...

Thanks a lot, but I wouldn't feel comfortable sending a picture of myself to someone I don't know. I have bad paranoia. I hope you understand!

wear some sunglasses to conceal your identity then

Rubbish. If that was the case they wouldn't be seeing the demise of local authorities and rise of "free schools" which have a one of payment which will run out in the future.

But then it doesn't get rid of my skin, which is my biggest issue. Maybe if I had a balaclava I'd do it.

i cant make out your identity from your skin.

Yeah, that was the only punishment the bullies ever got in my case.

Are you doing better now? It's good that you're away from there.

Some of the bullies at my school didn't even have any discipline despite how many times you'd tell the teachers, just a 'don't do it again' and it just made them want to bully me more, Luckily though all my ones are verbal and not physical.

Well I only finished Year 11 in May but I couldn't be happier to see the back of that abysmal place. Secondary is in the past and always will be for me, don't want to relive it ever. Hoping sixth form will be much better, I'm going to one far from where my school is.

Not really. It actually flies iN the face of Western justice (the Presumption of inmocence) in those situations I'd say it's only fair to not punish the collective. It's not going to force anyone to come forward because if they're a cruel enough person to bully then they won't care about others being punished too.

I'm not scared about my identity. I'm just too self-conscious to have a photo of myself scrutinized by strangers.

Exactly the same in my case. As soon as they were out of the door, after "apologising" to me, I got a new threat.

It's good that you're putting it behind you and moving on. I hope you have as good a sixth form experience as me

So you think teachers should be child minders as well? Exactly the reason education and parental responsibility have both suffered at such a level in the UK.

You speak of some ideal world where all parents can control their kids.
Get a grip.
Many of these "trouble children" come from families where drug and alcohol abuse is rife and often have struggling single parents who find it harder to confront older bigger teenage boys.

Of course it's parents responsibility, but you have to take into account external factors and not live in some fake closed of world.
This is where teachers can play a huge role in stopping these troubled children from bullying others.

In the case of rich kids who don't have "troubles" as such, they probably don't even attend bad state schools, since the "teachers" disciple students and not make them bully each other.

Also if teachers don't discipline them and parents of troubled children can't either, who would you suggest does?

Its a schools responsibility. That does not make it the teachers responsibility. In my school teachers had to remain impartial to such stuff and we had a welfare officer in the school who death with bullying and complaints.

As already stated a lot of teachers do try and help out and a lot of teachers have been stabbed or assaulted for intervening in situations of bullying.

I think it depends on the school and the type of bullying. Yeah they do the whole anti-bullying weeks etc but there is rarely any real change. At my school if someone was getting beat up the teachers/supervisors wouldn't usually get involved, we'd actually have students running in to break up the fights. If it's name calling and verbal abuse, depending on who you report it to, you might get told to man up/get over it/ignore them. Having being a victim of bullying myself once ignoring them is a lot easier said than done.

On the other hand I think it depends on who you report it to. Sometimes you get that one gem of a teacher who you can count on, if someone was to tell one of my teachers they were being bullied or he saw someone being bullied he'd go right in and sort it He would also be the first person to dive in and stop anything physical (I think him being the size of a frickin door helped that).

It's even worse when you have teachers bullying students, even though they adamantly deny it. Everything they do is what they try telling you is bullying, yet when it's a teacher doing it to a pupil it doesn't count? I had issues with one of my teachers and when I eventually mentioned it I suddenly had upper management and other teachers giving me ****, calling me a liar etc etc. So in my mind they were completely ignoring what was taking place, even tried to cover it up and run my name through mud. It wasn't until one teacher took the time to speak to them did it eventually sort itself out for the most part, it was definitely the worst couple of months at school though.

More often than not I'd say that it was students that had to step in, and not the people who were SUPPOSED to.

Yeah most schools don't have that like I said with the changes from funding.

So you're suggestion for teachers is to essentially be a pussy instead and watch as innocent people are hurt in front on your own eyes.
Great. Well done. Not.

Yeah, I was bullied in one of the anti-bullying assemblies. It's so funny looking back.

I'm so sorry you were bullied, but I'm glad your school dealt with it better than mine.

A teacher bullying you? That's horrible. One of my girlfriend's teachers bullied everyone in the class when she was in year 7, but he shortly "left" after that. She thinks that he got fired because her parents and many others complained. He'd call her and her friends the Adam's Family, make students write essays for yawning, make students write essays for doing anything wrong (in year 7), called her dopey, made girls do star jumps at the front of the class as punishment (but that's another story.) She used to actually be scared to go to his classes. Luckily I never had any experiences with teachers like that.

I hope you're doing better now