Offensive name calling ‘rife’ in schools, bullying report warns

Education watchdog Ofsted has also found that disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and children who are gay or perceived to be homosexual are most likely to be targeted by bullies.

The report published today shows name-calling is rife in many schools, but is often dismissed by pupils as simply being “banter.”

Ofsted found that some children are using insults relating to sexuality, intelligence, race, appearance and family circumstances, with a minority saying it was acceptable if the words were being used between friends.

The report, based on visit to 56 schools and discussions with around 1,300 pupils and 800 teachers, looked at how bullying can be tackled and prevented.

It said pupils were using derogatory language outside of the classrooms, such as in the playground, but at times it spilled over into lessons.

Ofsted say that the schools visited could be broadly split into three groups. In the best schools, the culture and ethos were very positive. The schools’ expectations and rules spelled out how pupils should interact with each other. The majority of schools had some of these strengths but the way they dealt with bullying was not always as effective and sometimes “the analysis of behaviour and bullying was not as sharp as it should be”.

In a third small group of schools, the culture and the curriculum did not “effectively develop pupils’ understanding about diversity or help them to develop empathy for each other.”

The report said: “Behaviour in these schools was more variable and interactions between pupils were not as positive. Incidents were dealt with when they happened but the preventative work was not as effective. In some of these schools pupils expressed some concerns about bullying.

“Many head teachers and staff spoke about the tensions that could exist between the culture that they were trying to instil and maintain in their schools, and aspects of the culture in the wider communities around the school.

“These tensions could relate to how people spoke to and treated each other generally, or to more specific attitudes towards particular groups. The schools sometimes had systematically to tackle racist, homophobic and aggressive attitudes that existed among parents and carers and in parts of their wider community that were in serious conflict with the school’s values.”

Words such as “stupid”, “idiot”, “mong” or “spaz” were used when pupils struggled with work or a sport, it said, while other youngsters told inspectors that terms like “gay”, “slag” or “slut” could be used against classmates.

The report warned that “gay” was often used as an insult, with one secondary school pupil saying it was used to mean “rubbish”.

School staff also said that the use of the word “gay” was a “common issue”.

At the same time, the report said some of the staff in 24 of the schools visited said that they never heard prejudiced language from pupils.

The report adds that many of the pupils questioned knew that using derogatory language was wrong because it hurts people’s feelings, and can make them upset or angry.

However it warned that in 13 of the schools visited some pupils knew that while certain language was generally inappropriate, they thought it was acceptable if the words were used between friends as ‘banter’ or “messing about.”

This generally did not extend to racism which was seen as the worst insult and as unacceptable. However a few pupils said racist terms were seen as acceptable “between friends”.

Susan Gregory, Ofsted director of education and care, said: “Schools must develop a positive culture so all pupils learn in a happy and safe environment. Teachers should receive the right training and support so they have the skills and confidence to teach pupils about diversity and the effects of bullying.”