Teachers have been told not to use the word ‘bullies’ to avoid upsetting them – and ordered to call in police when pupils are suspected of hate crime.
The latest guidance from the SNP government aimed at cracking down on bullying highlights the importance of tackling prejudice – including misgendering –and ‘microaggressions’.
This phrase refers to a deliberate or inadvertent casual insult based on gender, colour, culture, or beliefs; for instance, believing someone is foreign-born based on their name or race.
Staff have been instructed not to label children as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims’ – as it can be ‘disempowering’ – and pupil exclusion does not feature in the 57-page document.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth was told to ‘get a grip by ditching the wokery and protecting the victims of bullying’.
Scottish Tory children and young people spokesman Roz McCall said: ‘This guidance might be full of warm words but it also fails to address the serious issues that our teachers are having to deal with every single day.
‘That is typical of the SNP who have dithered and delayed as violence has soared in Scotland’s schools.
‘It has consequences if we are asking teachers to record incidents based on ideology, rather than allowing them to show some common sense and get on with teaching.’
Separate Scottish Government research published last year found violence, aggression and disruptive behaviour in schools have risen sharply. But the guidelines state: ‘Labelling children and young people as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims’ can be disempowering and is unhelpful in supporting them to change their behaviour, or in scaffolding their recovery from a bullying experience.’
Terms such as ‘child displaying bullying behaviour’ and ‘child experiencing bullying behaviour’ are preferred.
However, the guidance states that the ‘nature of some behaviours may constitute criminal offences, and advice should be sought from Police Scotland where there are significant concerns’.
The report also emphasises how crucial it is to document all instances and keep an eye out for bias as a component of bullying, which may potentially violate the Hate Crime Act.
Bullying of youngsters who identify as trans can be manifested in many different ways, it says, including ‘deliberately misgendering’.
The guidelines also state that it is ‘crucial to help [bullies] recognise the harm their behaviour causes, repair relationships when possible and desired, and challenge prejudicial attitudes through education and building empathy’.
Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘This woke guidance is totally inadequate.
‘The soft and ‘inclusive’ approach it promotes is more likely to encourage bullies than to deter them.
‘It places children in danger and undermines the authority of hard-pressed teachers facing daily thuggery in the classroom.
‘Bullying, including online bullying, should be treated as crossing a red line that results in exclusion and, for a second offence, expulsion.’
Ms Gilruth said: ‘I am committed to creating safe, inclusive, and supportive environments where children and young people can thrive.’
So, what it boils down to is that now a school’s reaction to ‘bullying’ is a series of ‘isolated incidents’ of one pupil against another. If you were to ask them what the definition of ‘bullying’ is, they would probably say that it was ‘repetitive incidents’, over a period of time, of one pupil against another.
The logic? By closing each incident, and calling it isolated, it doesn’t fall into their definition of bullying, therefore they don’t have any incident of bullying in their Ofsted report.
What will it be next? ‘Sorry Johnny. I can’t tell him to stop kicking you, because it might upset him, and he’s just expressing himself.’ The very reason we have so many problems is the lack of discipline and too much wokery.
Education in schools is at an all-time low, and since schools should be a safe environment for all kids, bullying in all its manifestations has to be strongly addressed at a young age.
The government must take action to protect our children from bullies because their heinous behaviour makes the lives of many of our children completely miserable and can have heartbreaking consequences. The problem is getting worse due to a lack of discipline in both the home and the schools.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 