Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

CHERYL PEEBLES: I’m stunned by accounts of bullying I’ve heard from parents after Waid Academy attack

The shocking truth about bullying and violence in schools has emerged in the past week. Image: Shutterstock.
The shocking truth about bullying and violence in schools has emerged in the past week. Image: Shutterstock.

When I opened an email entitled ‘Waid bullies and fights’ last week I had no idea I was also opening Pandora’s box.

Having hit play on the attached video, my emotions swung from shock and horror at  the violence I was watching in a classroom of all places, to fear for my own son soon to start secondary school.

Then came the anger – anger that children were being subjected, whether as victims or witnesses, to aggression that too many people seem to accept as part of school life.

Since The Courier revealed the incident at Waid Academy, I’ve been stunned by the accounts my colleagues and I have heard from parents whose children have suffered assaults, abuse and cruel taunts from their peers.

Some on a daily basis.

Parents’ accounts of torment

One parent told me of an assault on her daughter, saying: “If it had been an adult they would have served a jail sentence.”

Another revealed her daughter’s safety couldn’t be guaranteed and they were advised to move her to another school.

Teachers – who must be horrified by what they are seeing happen to children they care about – seem to have inadequate tools to help.

And people’s fear about speaking up – children afraid of being branded a grass and parents’ worry they’ll cause them more grief – means the issue can all too easily fall under the radar.

Bullying and violence in schools is very different today from the bullying of generations before.

Cheryl Peebles says we owe it to our children to find a solution. Image: DC Thomson.

Mobile phones and social media have added a cruel twist – an extra egging on – to those who know they are being filmed throwing the punches.

Messages and posts stoke the flames, and recordings of the ensuing clash intensify the humiliation, multiplying the audience of the chanting crowd.

But although bullying and violence in schools has changed, it’s nothing new.

It happened when our grandparents, their grandparents and their grandparents before them were children.

There are children going to school knowing that they are going to be bullied. Terrified this might be the day they take a beating.”

“Never any fights when you were at school?”

That was a question asked by one local politician of another on Twitter in the aftermath of last week’s controversy.

But when our grandparents, their grandparents and their grandparents before them were children, it was also acceptable for teachers to whack children with leather straps and cause them excruciating pain.

We wouldn’t tolerate that now, but still there are children going to school knowing that they are going to be bullied.

Terrified this might be the day they take a beating.

As the mother of a boy who will soon cross over the threshold of high school for the first time, that strikes fear into my heart.

Most schools use what are known as restorative approaches to deal with bullying – Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has previously told us exclusion should be a last resort.

They work with the perpetrators to help them recognise the impact of their behaviour and to alter it. The bullies are children too, and in many cases victims themselves.

Of course, this approach makes sense in theory and it should continue to play a role.

But it appears it is providing little deterrence in practice.

What’s the solution?

Many have proffered the old school “thump them back” advice.

But that’s encouraging more violence and risks making the victim equally culpable.

Retired police officer Graham Goulden spoke of the power of the active bystander – encouraging onlookers to intervene – but isn’t that shifting responsibility on to perhaps terrified kids?

So what’s the solution? That is the million dollar question.

But we owe it to our children to do our utmost to find it.

I don’t have an answer, and can only shine a light on what’s happening in the hope of stirring up the political will to find one.

We need to make sure children are not frightened to go to school, fearing they are going to be attacked.

As First Minister Nicola Sturgeon herself said on Monday, bullying in schools is “horrible, it’s unacceptable” and everyone wants to see as much done as possible to combat it.

We wrote off bullying and violence in schools in years gone by almost as a rite of passage for children.

But we can’t stand for it anymore.


Cheryl Peebles is The Courier’s schools and family team leader and mother to two children aged 11 and 9.

Conversation