We Should Start By Calling It What It Is...

...not 'bullying'. Assault:

Jake was out of school for three months and the bullies were expelled after the two attacks which happened on consecutive days.

Just expelled? Where was the police action? Why are they not facing criminal charges?

Answer: because calling it 'bullying' conjures up pictures of childish petty squabbles. What this child suffered was Actual Bodily Harm.

And it should have been treated as such, not dismissed with bureaucratic waffle:

A spokesman for the de Ferrers Academy, where Jake was a pupil at the time of the attack, said: 'The academy has a range of strategies in place to minimise bullying and clear procedures to address it should it occur.

'We operate an entirely non-teaching support and guidance structure to ensure that pastoral staff are always available should a student need to report an issue.

'This is supplemented by inclusion centres on each campus and staff who provide counselling, should the need arise.

'As part of our safeguarding review with the local authority, we have also introduced an email student helpline for bullying which guarantees a response within the day.

'All bullying incidents are recorded and reported to the local governing body.'

Such a lot of meaningless guff, amounting to 'Yes, well, we've ticked all the boxes, what more do you expect?'...

“Dictionary For Miss Delevingne, STAT!”

Facebook listens to its customers:

The social media giant’s creator Mark Zuckerburg has hinted the site is planning on introducing the dislike button alongside its thumbs-up “like” option.

And a celebutard speaks:

Miss Delevingne, who has 27.5 million followers on Instagram, 4.9 million on Twitter, and 3.6 million on Facebook, said she had serious concerns.

She told the Sunday Times Style magazine: "If you can go around disliking someone's pictures, that is going to set off a whole new wave of bullying. "

*rolls eyes* No, sweetie. That’s not bullying. Not even close.

"These companies are making so much money, they just want the new thing. "

They do, do they?

The "dislike" button is one of the most requested additions Facebook users have asked for over many years.

Seems as if they are just giving their customers what they want, doesn’t it?

"If it's something that is going to cause people harm, I really think we should steer against that. 'Like' away - but if you have a bad thought about someone, keep it to yourself."

Hmmm, should have taken your own advice, love.

Welcome To Identity Politics And The Outrage Bus, Cllr Hall!

Councillor Hall, who is also a member of the London Fire Authority, said: “This is a television programme which thrives on controversy, and I’m honestly amazed that my tweets have been singled out in this way.

"Given my roles the campaign by the Fire Brigades Union is clearly politically motivated, but I also think it’s a sad state of affairs when a person doesn’t have luxury of being able to say what they think because of political correctness or fear of trial by Twitter jury.”

You’ll be pressing Tory Ministers to resist all such attempts to restrict free speech that offends someone then, will you?

Excellent! Start with Teresa May.

Anastasia de Waal, chairman of Bullying UK, said: "I think the people that should be worried the most are the party she represents and the council she is on. Why is she getting involved in this frivolous issue?

"She is posting completely pointless and negative comments, instead of talking to people in the area about how as a councillor she is going to improve their lives and serious issues."

Most councillors could best ‘improve their lives’ by abolishing their own posts and so lowering the tax bill, love…

Barking & Dagenham Police...

...mostly, it would seem, barking:

OK, so, a question about why automatic belief would be considered a good thing, regardless of whether there was any evidence of bullying, was met with this:

If you have no proof of something, how can you expect to be believed? You're not reporting a crime, you're creating a religion...!

Well, Is It, Or Isn’t It?

Rachel Welch, project manager at selfharm.co.uk, isn't convinced self-harming is on the rise.

It's just we are more aware of it, says the 35-year-old. Indeed, even the Bible includes stories about self-harming and the World Health Organisation has long recognised it as a problem, not just in the West but in developing countries.

It seems that you don't just have to reach for the razor blades:

"If you think back," Welch says, "you may well remember someone in your youth who bit their nails furiously to the point of bleeding or who pulled out their hair. I knew one woman who always wore shoes a size too small because she said each step reminded her of just how awful she thought she was. When I self-harmed as a teenager, I used bruising. Like these other people, I didn't think of it as self-harm, though, because the label wasn't around and there was no real understanding of it."

Which sounds a lot like most modern panics, come to think of it, doesn't it?

You're a little slow? Nonsense! You have 'learning difficulties'!

Your kids are undisciplined little hellions? It's not your parenting skills, they have ADHD!

"And it certainly didn't occur to me to contact anyone to help make sense of what I was doing. We had no phone except one static landline where everyone could hear you and I wouldn't have known who to call anyway," she says.

"Nowadays, people are much more likely to know about self-harm and they can contact organisations like ours, ChildLine and others privately by phone or online."

Yet again, another facet that can be applied to modern ills - the burgeoning 'help and awareness' industry that grows up around them. And they don't want to give up their often hard-won positions.

Certainly not by taking a long hard look at whether this is an increasing problem or not:

But Sue Minto, head of ChildLine, believes the increase in cases has been dramatic.

Yes, I bet you do...

"In 2011/12, self-harm appeared for the first time in the top five main concerns for 14 year olds. This dropped further to 13 year olds in 2012/13, indicating that more young people are self-harming at a younger age," she says.

While some headlines have blamed a society increasingly obsessed with body image (which may help account for why girls are more prone to self-harming), Minto believes a more serious problem is the 24/7 online culture.

"In my day, if someone was bullied, they could find escape at home, but that isn't available now. Before you know it, something you said in confidence to one friend, or something unkind that someone else has said about you, is up there in neon lights for anyone to read for any amount of time."

Because absolutely no-one thinks that turning off the computer or mobile phone might be a solution, do they? And you aren't going to suggest it.

Nor are all the other vultures greedily picking over the corpse of our society:

Then there's the fact that families are increasingly fragmented and the inequality gap is widening.

"Research shows that under-12s, in particular, are very watchful when their parents are stressed and often internalise it," says Fiona Pienaar, head of service management at children's mental health charity Place2Be. No wonder so many more young people turn to self-harm to cope, she says.

"People report that the pain – and blood, if cutting is involved – can make them feel they are alive, when otherwise they feel numb or insignificant. People also talk about the overwhelming tension that can build up in their body, which hurting yourself can release. Then there's the way that physical pain can push away emotional pain. Many people, for example, report banging their heads against a wall when dreadful thoughts seem to take over. And others talk about wanting to punish themselves."

There's only one group I'd like to see punished. I think I might have to find a handy wall, quick!

Signs Of The Times…

This one is particularly irritating:

Guidance on how to deal with bullying on the buses, and what to do when your friends are in danger of distracting the driver, is being issued to every school in Essex.

Naturally, the one that’s really most important (especially for other innocent road users!) comes second behind the one that’s flavour of the month…

Essex County Council has just launched B Safe B Cool The Collection, a DVD of 16 cartoon and real-life short films, plus interactive resources. It has been issued as a way of keeping up with the demand from schools on giving pupils advice on dealing with problems they face on the journey to and from school, of which bullying is top of the list.

So, schools are ‘demanding’ this, are they?

Cllr Kay Twitchen, Chairman of Essex County Council, said at the launch: "I was at the start of the new Young Essex Assembly recently, and yet again tackling bullying is their number one priority.

"Staff do all they can to stop it happening in schools…

Do they? Do they really, Kay? Are you sure about that? And even when they do, the policy is likely to be bonkers...

… but have no control over what occurs on the journey to and from school.

"I hope seeing these films will help pupils realise they are not alone, and that adults do realise it's a problem.

"I want them to feel able to tell their mum, tell a teacher, tell a friend and get some help.

"I feel so strongly about this, and worried about how sad it makes young people feel.

"I hope this goes some way to show them it does not have to happen."

Good grief, woman, get a grip!

Gillian Mills, the county's passenger transport co-ordinator, said: "We have made this film individually over the years but they have never been brought together as a collection.

"The aim of this new resource is for schools to use it in their curriculum, maybe incorporate in their PSHE or transition lessons…

In their...?

I had to Google that! 'Transition lessons' are still a mystery though.

"Children when they are in groups without an adult sometimes need guidance and education on how to behave."

Given the number of school trips I've observed on public transport that 'without an adult' was redundant.

Or You Could Just Accept That Your Wants Don't Trump Property Rights?

Mrs Daintree has now started a petition called 'Fill That Gap' which she is hoping will show public support.

Posters have been put up in the local church and shop in support of the campaign.

She added that one option was to bend the boardwalk around the private area of land but that it reached so far out the shingle might not be strong enough to support it that far down the beach.

 Well, you're at an impasse then. The council don't own the land, and the people that do own it don't want to sell. So what do you expect to solve with a petition?

What does the council have to say? Given it committed public money to this without properly investigating the circumstances?

'The Council remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of the gap.

'Options to close the gap are currently being investigated and it is the intention to bring the details of these options back to Councillors for a decision in the next month or two.

'We are aware that there remains strong feeling among the community about the need to close the gap in the Boardwalk, and to potentially extend the Boardwalk at a later date.'

 Really? Or is it just one person, enabled by all the usual agitators? Comments are illuminating:

I live in one of the houses in your photographs of Shoreham Beach and am in possession of the facts. I rarely see disabled people using the boardwalk but see lots of children on cycles, scooters etc using it. To say that this is a facility for the disabled is to exaggerate the benefit to disabled people. If I were disabled or pushing a disabled person in a wheelchair, I would much rather go half a mile down the road to Widewater where there is a lovely footpath bounded by a cycle lane which is off a much higher standard than this boardwalk. As this footpath and cycle path stretches along the beach all the way to Goring (which must be at least five miles away) disabled people are certainly not prevented from enjoying our lovely beaches. This petition is merely an attempt to intimidate the elderly owners of the house to permit Adur District Council who knew that they did not own the land before building works commenced to build the boardwalk, to agree terms with them.

- Sam , Brighton, 05/2/2013 21:06

As a local resident in possession of the full facts behind this fiasco, I can advise that Adur council tried to buy this land from the owners as recently as 2005, without success. In 2011 without consulting the residents West Sussex CC registered the land. Convenient for Adur, who then proceeded to build the boardwalk without planning permission or consulting residents. The land registry subsequently overturned WSCCs bogus attempt to register the land when the real owners produced their deeds. This article along with Adur DC, SBRA, FSOB are now trying to bully residents in submission.This is not acceptable and really hope they fail. We've arrived at this laughable position because the Council tried do something behind closed doors, without planning and consultation . It's quite clear to me who is in the wrong.

- Beachman , Shoreham by Sea, United Kingdom, 05/2/2013 13:57

It's quite clear to me too. And it's not the owners of the land..

Oh, Just Make It STOP!!!!

…Bear Grylls will now fall foul of new guidelines from the Scout Association, which has banned all nicknames in a bid to reduce bullying among its young members.

The organisation founded by Lord 'B-P' Baden-Powell believes that giving children nicknames could encourage taunting and bullying.

The organisation founded by Lord Baden-Powell has clearly gone as mad as almost every other organisation the nannying ninnies have managed to infest…

Training sessions are being offered to new and current leaders, who have also been warned not to use the shortening technique amongst themselves.

I do like the word ‘offered’. I suspect it’s the offer you can’t refuse, if you want to be a new or current leader…

It is particularly concerned aboutthe use of nicknames which focus on an individual’s physical characteristics – such as their hair colour, height or weight.

And who is responsible for this outbreak of cretinism? Step forward, ‘Barmy’ Sam Marks.

Oh, sorry, was that offensive? So sad, too bad…

The association’s chief 'safeguarding' officer Sam Marks drew up the plans. He told Scouting Magazine: 'Bullying can advance gradually and can start with something as simple as a nickname.

'Research and experience all highlight that name calling – whether it be nicknames or harmless taunting – is often the largest form of bullying.'

Brilliant! So, to reduce the risk of bullying, we ban nicknames! What a genius plan! That one's up there with blaming the victim...

I mean, never mind intent. That’s hard to prove. No, the ‘new and current leaders of the Scout movement’ can’t be expected to make judgement calls. They need firm, clear, black and white guidelines.

'We don’t have a black and white list of approved nicknames. 'If someone is called Frederick and you call them Freddie then there is no problem with that.

'But you need to ask why that person has a nickname – if it is because they have red hair or are fat or they have a funny face, or because they did something funny and it stuck with them? They might be quite embarrassed by that.'

Well, how about you ask them? And if they don’t mind, why should you?

Mr Marks continued: 'It is in response to industry standards – all the anti-bullying work mentions name calling and teasing as the main form of bullying.'

Translation: ‘ I've read all the stuff pumped out by the fakecharities and I don’t understand half of it, but my job depends on me coming up with a policy, so I've come up with one. Whew!! Earned my salary there!’

'It is about getting the adults to think about their behaviour and how they are role models, because what they do, the children may do. 'If adults don’t use nicknames then the children are less likely to do so.'

Yes, children will always do just what adults do. It’s the way of the world, right?