Whats going on in UK schools

[mark]

I read this and it made me sick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6174989.stm

Britain's problem with hooliganism and bullying is turning the schooling system into a nightmare.

In this case, the parents of the girl doing the bullying joined in too and killed the bullied girl's parents by burning the bullied girl's house down.

Right now, I am so thankful that we moved to the US and my kids (when I have one) wont have to go the chaotic UK schools (If you can get into one, that is).

[floridapete]

Mark, you are reading too much into tabloid headlines (yes, even the BBC) and making the too-easy assumptions from them.

Yes, this case was extreme, and disgraceful, but it is not at all typical - so please don't start on wielding that brush of tar over all British schools from just one headline.

Funnily enough (though the subject is not funny at all) I have been following a similar discussion of this topic on the other Expats website "British Expats" !

There the initial remarks (much like yours) have since been tempered by many responses from ExPats about US schools which are not, at all, without their problems - guns, knives, shoot-outs etc. etc. But I am sure that those problem are not typical of ALL US schools either ?

( See: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=413998)

However, I can tell you from personal experience that there are many great schools in the UK - I was priviledged to attend our Grandsons school a few weeks ago to see their Harvest festival concert and it was great - a testament to the dedication of the teachers and the happiness of the children.

Incidentally, the parents involved in that murdering have since been sentenced to life - with at least 32 years to serve before parole is considered - and the teenage girl got 11 years for manslaughter !

[punky]

Link doesn't work Mark.

While the arson action isn't typical, but the circumstances leading up to it, is.

You can't go to a school play as a parent and judge the behavior of its pupils based on that.

I attended a UK school as a pupil (private, in fact, which is supposed to attract better pupils) considerably more recently than yourself, and bullying is a major problem at virtually every school (if not evry school) that I attended or have direct knowledge of. My brother wasn't so lucky, and went to a state school, and had to drop out of school because they failed to protect him from bullying, even with the police getting involved. You couldn't pay me to go back to school as a pupil, as they certainly aren't going to have got any better. I am just glad I have got out alive.

Also, when I was at school, the parents and teachers were usually oblivious to the problem. Often there was nothing they could do if they did.

[Kriz1]

Even here in small town USA we've had my son's school closed down because of a bomb made by one of the kids...if it could happen here it could happen anywhere in the USA and it does most days if you read the papers in different States...

My kids have gone through both schools systems...my daughter in the UK my son in the USA....and I rate both systems about the same for bullying nowadays...I think the chances of your child being killed by someone at school is a lot higher in the USA....

[Sharon]

Hi

I am sure all schools do have problems with bullies but when I was at school the teaching staff would not do anything about it or admit there was a problem

[chris]

I think irrespective of which side of the pond, one of the main reasons for the increase in bullying and the decrease in discipline is litigation or the threat of.
The UK for a long while has had the habit of embracing what happens in the US and this is no different.
It's a long while since I went to school and I would not advocate a return to corporal punishment like there was in my day, nor do I want to see rickets return, but there comes a point when we have to look at the past and ask where did we go wrong? I think we should empower the educators to have control and the bureaucrats behind them should have the b***s to back them up in cases such as bullying. If they don't, the bully's have won. It's the same with litigation. Parents should sue (not Susie!) at the first sign of an alleged wrongdoing and the schools back down. I say 'bring it on' and take them task. That way you'd soon see who was right and who was wrong. I think it is a load of c**p talked when people say you shouldn't have discipline where kids are concerned. Yes you should, boundaries should be set and the kids know full well the punishment if they overstep them. Isn't that also part of parenting for heavens sake? Kids look to adults for a lead in their intellectual growth. Without instilling responsibility and accountability from an early age, how on earth can we expect them to grow up to be responsible adults.

[Grumpy]

Bullies are normally bullied at home, or so I've been told

[Emmalee25]

Uk schools are renown the world over now for their lack of control over students, my brother attends a magnet school in the USA and they have a great way of achieving the best from pupils, In the UK my son will attend private school as the local schools throughout Leeds are absolutely atrocious. I understand Petes remark about not wanting to tar all schools from one story, but the majority of schools are very bad, and the good ones are nigh on impossible to get into due to everyone trying to get their kids in them.

The stort doesnt suprise me unfortunately :(
Em x

[Kriz1]

I tell you...if you want to see parents fighting and bullying kids and other parents...let your kid take up ice hockey...we used to have to have the police outside the rink to stop parents from one team picking on the kids and parents of another...I've never seen anything like it...one night they tried to run a parent down with an SUV...

[Ron]

Bring back the slipper and the cane , that will sort the little b--ers out

[peter gold]

Ron .. a little draconian?...lets go for conscription!!!

[floridapete]

Ron .. a little draconian?...lets go for conscription!!!

As one of the very last National Servicemen (1960-62) I would agree with that last remark ! :)

[Susie]

Every child should be made to do something for charties or others as part of their school career

What do schools do about bullying now a days, can anyone share

[Emmalee25]

Every child should be made to do something for charties or others as part of their school career

What do schools do about bullying now a days, can anyone share

Nothing Sue!!!!! Thats the problem!

[Ron]

At least in the us the children have their own mentors whom they can speak to at most times, trouble shared and all that

[Emmalee25]

I agree Ron,
I find that in the USA the children are encouraged to do well, to look to the future and are taught respect and manners (god knows what happens to them as adults as respect is very rare i find) but in the UK the kids are treated so differently, when i started high school i was a confident kid with A* grades, i felt that i was stripped of all confidence and made to conform to a stereo type! thats all the teachers are taught to deal with, the stereo typical 11 year old/12 year old/ etc etc etc. I had no probs with peer pressure in schools, just teacher pressure and i hated every minute of it!!!

From what i have learned from my best friends children (age 12,14,16) its still the same!

Em x