Campaign to defeat bullying will add to quality of life for young

The city's 2009 GCSE results were the best ever and a strong sense of community has prevented the port being gripped by the same levels of gang, drug and knife crime suffered by many other cities, according to the Hull Children and Young People's Plan.

But the study has also warned there is no room for complacency – particularly since children themselves have raised crime as one of the main things they are worried about.

Out of a population of 260,000, 62,000 are aged 19 or under. Hull is the 11th most deprived authority in England, with a third of children living in low-income families, and 25 per cent in poverty, says the plan.

Lead member for children's services Coun Christine Randall said: "Children and young people in Hull should have a healthy lifestyle, grow up in a loving and safe home, and be safe from harm.

"They should enjoy and have fun in their childhood and teenage years, be able to take part in a variety of activities, such as sport, music and drama, near their home, and have the chance to do their best and succeed. They should play a part in their city and have their views and ideas listened to and taken seriously, helping decide and plan what they need.

"They should enjoy living in a city which welcomes and treats all people fairly and equally and does not tolerate any form of discrimination.

"They should be able to get excellent help and support when they need it and know we are all working together to ensure no child is left behind."

The positive side of living in Hull has been underlined by figures showing the city is the only regional authority, and one of the few nationally, where the number of children ending up before the courts has gone down between 2000-2008.

More recent data for 2008-09 has also shown a 25 per cent fall in the number of youngsters who re-offend compared with a 2005 baseline.

But a recent children and young people's survey showed that 14 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls reported being bullied at school – which was three times higher than the previous survey.

"These figures are almost identical to Hull's statistical neighbours, and the national average. However, the Tell Us 4 survey reported bullying at a higher level than both statistical neighbour and national comparisons," the report says.

"This may reflect the work on awareness raising about bullying, in particular leading up to anti-bullying week and our inclusive approach to all types of bullying."

However, by 2013 it was expected that all Hull's schools daily working practices should show bullying was unusual and it if did occur, it was dealt with immediately, the report continues. "We expect fear of bullying to have dropped significantly because of publicity about our prompt, effective and consistent approach to bullying," it adds. "We expect Hull to be setting high standards for tackling this difficult but important issue."

The Community Anti-Bullying Services and Rights and Participation Project, which launched the Bog Off Bullies self-help group, have been commissioned to provide additional support, together with the parenting support team.

Measures to tackle bullying were also a requirement to the National Health Schools Award, which locally had become a useful tool in seeing how schools were measuring up in their approach to the problem.

An e-safety strategy would also be used to tackle cyber-bullying and other threats presented by new technology.