BULLYING | YACVic releases report into bullying among young people
The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria has released a report, 'Sticks & stones & mobile phones: Bullying in the new millennium', which looks at many forms of bullying including cyberbullying, bullying at school and in the workplace, and bullying experienced by young people with a disability.
The 54-page report contains a summary of the key issues raised at an important forum on bullying held in Melbourne during August following increasing concern about the impact of bullying on young people. Dr Barbara Spears, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of South Australia, was a keynote speaker at this forum, and summaries of her presentation are contained in the report.
The report's recommendations stress that initiatives to reduce bullying should take into account that young people should be engaged 'directly in the process of developing those solutions'.
Another recommendation in the report is that teachers receive training in how to recognise and respond to bullying behaviour among students. The full report, which lists many useful links and resources on the topic of bullying, can be downloaded from: www.yacvic.org.au/sector/items/2009/11/299880-upload-00002.pdf
Source: Liz Leahy, YACVic email, 18 November 2009; YACVic website: www.yacvic.org.au/sector/sector-list.chtml?title=News, viewed 19 November 2009; and www.yacvic.org.au/sector/items/2009/11/299880-upload-00002.pdf