Bullying in Schools Solicitors

Bullying in schools is still commonplace but now, thankfully, unacceptable.  Bullying amongst children at school and online is on the increase throughout the UK.

Taking place in physical and digital spaces, bullying has a real-world impact on a child’s health and happiness. This can result in serious short-term issues and long-term trauma, impacting the overall wellbeing.

Many educational institutions take a zero-tolerance approach to bullying. Schools should act to prevent bullying and discrimination, harassment and victimisation.  But, despite best efforts, educators sometimes fail to address bullying and abuse and, in these cases, a complaint should be escalated until the issue is  resolved.

Who do IBB’s Education Solicitors act for?

We only act on behalf of children, students and their parents. We are committed to enabling every young person to succeed in whatever they are striving to achieve. Children and young people are at the heart of what we do. They are our primary focus, to ensure they have access to schooling and to receive the appropriate support.  Children must be able to access all school facilities, including the school curriculum, to enable them to perform to their full potential.    Without access to quality education, children may find it difficult to succeed once they are ready to enter the job market. This will impact on their earning potential and have consequences for their overall well-being. It is, therefore, important to tackle bullying in schools at the earliest possible time.

We spend all our working day delivering education legal advice to those who seek our assistance.   We are specialist education law lawyers.  As we are specialist education solicitors, we look at problems from a different angle, finding solutions from more than one position.

We do not act for schools so you can be sure we are committed to acting in your and your child’s best interests.

What counts as bullying?

Bullying is defined by the Anti-Bullying Alliance as:

“The repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or psychological. It can happen face-to-face or through cyberspace.”

It is worth remembering that many forms of bullying are unlawful under common law.  Examples of unlawful bullying are:

• Physical violence or threat of violence
• Assault
• Theft and/or Criminal Damage
• Hate Crimes
• Theft
• Cyberbullying

Is school bullying illegal?

Some types of bullying are illegal and thus a report should be made to the police, to prevent further harm to a child or young person and to ensure the bully answers for their behaviour. Acts of bullying which are illegal includes hate crime, harassment (ie repeated name calling, threats, abusive calls, messages and emails), theft, violence and assault.

How much bullying takes place in schools?

The Anti Bullying Alliance collected, between November 2021 and February 2022, data from 29,308 pupils, across 208 schools. Their research concluded that around 24% of pupils reported being frequently bullied, with about 6% of pupils frequently bullying others. They also reported that children with special educational needs or disabilities or those in receipt of free school meals “were significantly more likely to be bullied.”

Each educational body has a duty of care to protect its pupils and can be held legally responsible for failure to implement or monitor its protective rules. Bullying may occur in school or away from the school premises. An example of the latter is physical bullying on a bus, where the incident is shared online.   A school’s responsibility for children does not always stop at the school gates. Schools may be responsible for the actions of pupils, bullying other children, where it takes place outside of school.

The bullying of a child may be linked to other issues, possibly discrimination, including transgender issues. Therefore, taking action against a school in respect of the bullying of your child may also include a complaint of discrimination.

In bullying cases it is always important to understand your legal options. Our team at IBB can help in a number of different ways. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Professional guidance on your bullying legal rights
• Case construction on how to complain to a school and to stop the bullying
• Representation by trained lawyer
• Legal support
• Bespoke care

No matter what course of action you pursue, it is imperative that you put the health and happiness of your child first. This is always our primary concern and factor this into our impartial guidance. We endeavour to make sure that you are fully equipped with the information that allows you to make the best decision for your child.

We offer a fixed fee initial consultation with our team to discuss your needs and see how we can help.

If you want to know more about how we can help with school bullying, please contact our education law   specialists by speaking to Rachael on 01895 207230 or email her at educationteam@ibblaw.co.uk

Common questions about bullying in school

What can you do if your child is being bullied at school?

If your child reports bullying, of whatever description, it is important to immediately inform the school in writing, asking them to advise what corrective action will be taken. This is especially important if the act involves abuse, harassment, violence, victimisation, or discrimination.

You should also ask for the school’s Anti-Bullying Policy and the Complaint Procedure.

What can you do if a school fails to protect your child from being bullied?

In some cases, there may be a need to take legal action against the school itself. This can potentially be intimidating and a stressful process, which we will help make as simple as possible.

If a school is deemed to fail in their duty of care to your child, they can be held legally responsible for the consequence of bullying and formally required to make significant changes to their rules and daily practice. This commonly needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis and should be accompanied by specialist advice from a solicitor who undertakes education legal work.

What does school bullying legal advice cost?

We make available an initial fixed fee consultation to discuss your bullying concerns. We will advise you what action can be taken to deal with issues of bullying and to get your child back on track at school.

This fixed fee consultation is conducted on Microsoft Teams and can be carried out at a time that is convenient to you. Speak (01895 207230) to Rachael or email her at educationteam@ibblaw.co.uk to make an online booking, to discuss your concerns of bullying with one of our specialist education solicitors.

If, following the online meeting discussing your concerns about bullying, you would like us to help you further, we will tell you what action can be taken and what is involved.

We understand you want to have clear advice about costs and thus we endeavour to be transparent about the costs of providing further school bullying legal advice.  In some cases we might be able to offer a fixed fee in respect of additional work.

Please note that we are only able to take on cases on a privately paying basis. If you are unable to privately fund your case ,or you looking for general guidance on what actions you can take to protect you or your child’s education rights in relation to bullying, we recommend you contact Citizens Advice.

Get clear legal advice and support for what to do if your child is being bullied at school

If you want to know more about how we can help with school bullying and, perhaps, associated issues of discrimination, school suspensions and school exclusions, please contact our education law senior legal administrator, Rachael, on 01895 207230 or by email at  educationteam@ibblaw.co.uk.