Anti Bullying (SIL)
Scope of this chapter
This procedure applies to all incidents of bullying between young people whether they occur within or outside the setting. If there are concerns about young people being bullied by staff or carers,
See: Whistleblowing
If a young person is being bullied by another young person with whom they attend School or who lives in another establishment the same procedures apply. If a young person is bullied or bullies others while on contact visits this information will be shared with the young person’s Social Worker and a strategy agreed to manage/prevent further incidents. Where there are concerns around staff on staff bullying, these will be addressed through the Whistle Blowing policy and Code of Conduct.
Bullying is an interaction between an individual or group of people with a more powerful individual or group which is perceived or intended to cause hurt, pain, suffering, humiliation or degradation.
Bullying behaviour may be direct or indirect. Direct forms include physical violence or threats; verbal assaults and taunts; the destruction of property; extortion and unwanted sexual interest or contact. Examples of indirect forms of bullying include ignoring and withdrawal of friendships; excluding and isolating young people; malicious gossip; offensive and threatening texting; spreading rumours and abusive or offensive graffiti. Bullying may also include being forced to become involved in criminal or anti-social behaviour.
We take all form of bullying seriously and is particularly concerned to take action in relation to incidents which include racist, sexist, disability or homophobic elements. In these cases, such issues will be specifically addressed with the bully (and his/her parent/staff as appropriate) in the course of incident management.
All young people need to be aware that staff want to be informed of any incidents of concern and that action will be taken when bullying is reported.
All staff working with young people will be made aware of the issue of bullying and the need to apply the policy of ‘zero tolerance’ consistently when incidents of bullying are witnessed or reported and recorded. Staff will reinforce the message to young people that bullying is unacceptable and will take positive action to prevent and control it.
The subject of bullying will be raised at both group and individual level. Young people will be given an opportunity to discuss the issue of bullying in Residents Meetings or on a one-to-one basis and be invited to contribute ideas to how the ‘zero tolerance’ policy can be implemented. At the individual level young people who are felt to be at risk of bullying (or have suffered bullying in the past) will be offered additional support and guidance. Those young people who have bullied others will be given advice and support and provided with strategies to enable them to bring their unacceptable behaviour under control to prevent further incidents. Risk management plans will be completed and regularly reviewed for effectiveness on both victims and perpetrators of bullying.
It is acknowledged that there are particular times in the day when young people may be more vulnerable to bullying – breakfast, travelling to school, at the end of the school day, and bedtime. Arrangements will be made to ensure that at such times adequate supervision is available to reduce the risk of bullying incidents.
Also, there are locations about the setting in which incidents of bullying are more likely to occur (leisure areas, games rooms, shower rooms, bathing areas) and again arrangements will be made to ensure that they are properly supervised and young people’s access to them is appropriately managed.
Young people will be encouraged to talk to staff about incidents of bullying which they experience or of which they may be aware. In these situations, staff will respond positively, take the expression of concern seriously and ensure the matter is thoroughly investigated.
Others who believe young people are being bullied or are bullying others will be encouraged to talk to staff about these concerns. Again the expression of concern will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly.
All of these proactive strategies operate within an ethos founded on equality, fairness, and respect for others. In order to help young people learn and develop appropriate responses to others, all staff/carers at all times will treat each other (and young people, parents/carers and other professionals) with courtesy and respect and will model appropriate and acceptable behaviour.
Changes in “normal” behaviour – moodiness/clingy/emotional outbursts
- Truancy / school refusal / poor performance;
- Changing route to school every day;
- Leaving the room as soon as another young person comes into it;
- Bedwetting / soiling / nightmares / sleep problems;
- Anxiety attacks; fear of going out; being left alone;
- Stealing;
- “Losing” property / having clothing or stuff destroyed;
- Arriving home hungry;
- Unexplained bruising/frequent “accidents”;
- Poor peer relationships;
- A tendency to be aggressive and bully others;
- Unexplained / psychosomatic illnesses (stomach / headaches);
- Obsessive washing / stop eating (smelly/fat kids);
- Self harming;
- Young people who are generally isolated and excluded;
- Young people who receive lots of negative attention (allegedly in fun);
- Unhappy, distressed, and withdrawn young people.
- The subject of bullying should be an open one and there should be regular discussion held around the topic so young people are aware that staff understand the nature of the problem. As such:
- Bullying should be discussed at both young peoples meetings and Resident meetings;
- Discussions about bullying should be held informally over dinner, watching TV, during activities etc.
- Placement plan sessions and risk management plans should take place / be completed with those where there are concerns around bullying behaviour or being bullied;
- Young People should be told that bullying behaviour will not be tolerated and will be managed in a timely manner;
- There should be posters up on the wall in the house) detailing the steps that are taken by the home when an incident of bullying is either witnessed or disclosed, which may include:
- Opportunity to complain offered;
- Meeting with the alleged victim to ascertain details of the behaviours;
- Meeting with the alleged perpetrator of the bullying behaviour to raise concerns and discuss the homes zero-tolerance stance on bullying;
- Increased supervision, where feasible, around the alleged bully and victim;
- Involvement of the Management Team, Support Workers, Social Workers, Education staff, Parents (if applicable) and any significant others;
- Potential consequences for the bully (separation plans, not earning rewards through the behaviour management system etc);
- Utilise methods as a means of supporting young people to recognise the impact of their behaviour and offer acceptable means of redress and acknowledgement of their actions.
Staff should generally be observant around the home and report/record any concerns no matter how small they may seem.
Support Workers should look for patterns in the young person's behaviour to see if there is any indication of bullying / being bullied.
Staff should use young people’s questionnaires to find out about bullying if it is not witnessed or disclosed.
All young people should have access to an advocate with whom they can share any concerns.
In supported houses there should be numbers on the walls in the phone area/dining room/games room should young people wish to share bullying experiences externally (i.e. Childline, Kidscape etc)
Develop and share information packs with the young people, so they also become aware of the types of bullying behaviours and the impacts of bullying on both the bully and the victim alike.
We will take firm and decisive action to deal with any incident of bullying, which is witnessed by or reported to any member of staff.
Staff will offer a positive, sympathetic and supportive response to young people who are the victims of bullying. The exact nature of the response will vary according to the particular needs of the young person and may include:
- Immediate action to stop the incident and secure the young person’s safety;
- Talk to the young person, get the full story, listen to what’s actually being said and empathise with how the behaviour has made them feel;
- Reassure the young person they were right to tell you;
- Explain to the young person the steps that will now be taken;
- Reassurance that the victim is not responsible for the bully’s behaviour (i.e. no justification for bullying);
- Support young people to learn and practice the skills of assertiveness so they can become more able to resist negative peer pressure;
- Practice assertiveness;
- Help the Young Person with simple responses to the most frequent taunts, support them with strategies to help them resolve conflicts before relationships are damaged or ill feelings escalate;
- Inform all staff / other carer / supervising social worker and implement extra supervision / monitoring (where applicable);
- Ensure all information is recorded onto bullying incident form, and Support plan if applicable and risk assessments updated or created;
- Informing parents / social workers / teachers / significant others;
- Ensure social workers involvement, as a minimum email paperwork and then call and discuss situation, strategies, outcomes etc.;
- Adult mediation between the victim and the bully (providing this does not increase the victim’s vulnerability);
- Arrangements to review progress.
Staff take bullying behaviour very seriously and will adopt a supportive, pragmatic, problem solving approach to enable bullies to behave in a more acceptable way. The use of punishment is not helpful in managing this problem, but the positive use of consequences can be useful in demonstrating to bullies that their behaviour is unacceptable and in promoting change.
Staff will respond to incidents of bullying in a proportionate way – the more serious cause for concern the more serious the response. When the application of consequences felt to be necessary they will be applied consistently and fairly.
In managing incidents of bullying the following options will be considered:
- Immediate action to stop an incident of bullying in progress;
- Talk to the young person, get the full story, listen to what’s actually being said and empathise with the young person;
- Reinforce the message that their behaviour is not acceptable; don’t get into a discussion about the justifications for the behaviour. Adopt the approach that there is no justification for bullying;
- Explain that bullying takes many forms, and isn’t just physical aggression;
- Time out;
- Inform all staff / carers and implement extra supervision / monitoring (where applicable);
- The use of consequences;
- Informing parents / (supervising) social workers / teachers / significant others;
- Make an effort to understand the reasons for the bullying behaviour;
- Counselling / instruction in alternative ways of behaving;
- Adult mediation with the victim (providing it does not increase victim vulnerability);
- Give the perpetrator other ways to deal with the need to bully – redirect anger in a positive way (sports, boxing, punch bag*, anger management counselling etc);
- Rewards / positive reinforcement for young people to promote change and bring unacceptable behaviour under control (Confrontation / Collaboration);
- Ensure all information is reported or recorded onto Incident Record, and Support plan if applicable;
- Placement plan sessions to reinforce inappropriateness of bullying behaviours take place;
- Be prepared to implement separation plans if bullying is / becomes serious;
- Review of viability of placement (for seriously violent young people).
Always provide boxing lessons on how to use a punch bag and appropriate equipment (i.e. gloves) to minimise damage or injury to wrists, fists and knuckles.
Each incident of bullying will be recorded on a Bullying Incident Form. Any incidents with a racist, sexist, disability, or homophobic element will be identified. This incident form will be cross-referenced in the daily log and written up
The original Incident Form is filed into the young person's file.
Last Updated: November 25, 2021
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