Policy

The importance of policy

The presence of a strong anti-bullying policy is vital for organisations to openly address bullying behaviour and provide support to children, young people, parents and staff. A robust, public and explicit policy statement enables schools and organisations to challenge bullying behaviour, deal with it appropriately when it occurs and provide information to parents, carers and the community on what is expected of everyone involved.

For example, some of the things parents and carers might expect to see in a policy document would be:

• Who to contact if you have a concern
• What will happen
• How will you be kept informed of progress/action
• What are the likely timescales
• What to do if you are unhappy with what is being done, and
• What to do if your child requires further support, together with a route to other sources of information and help.

respectme works with organisations across Scotland to help them develop policies from scratch, or to review and develop existing policies. respectme can help you directly through offering advice on what to look for in an organisation’s anti-bullying policy, and on steps you can take to reach a satisfactory outcome. Much more detailed information on policy review and development can be found at the respectme website 

You can also request a copy of the current anti-bullying policy being applied at your child’s school, from either directly from the school or from your Local Authority.