Little Dogs and Little Fleas

It is alarming how bullying has become deeply embedded in our education system. The target culture promotes bullying in many ways. As targets are passed down the bully’s railway, they are translated into new, smaller targets. Targets are set by those above you and are aimed at what you do to the people below you.

Government formulates policy and targets then proceeds to bully Local Authorities into implementing them, using financial pressure and their own dedicated attack dogs from OfSTED.

The LAs then bully heads into implementing the policy or targets using administrative or personal pressure. Heads know which side their bread is buttered when it comes to funding opportunities and career advancement, as well as lovely invites to conferences in far-away places. They also know that LAs can get rid of any head they take a dislike to: a really good audit, in depth interviews with staff, a nod to the attack dogs can unleash an Armageddon onto a head which only the strongest could withstand.

Heads naturally bully staff as they are the galley slaves, the ones who actually do the work of generating the statistics by which the policies’ and targets’ success will be judged. Teachers are regularly given unrealistic targets and additional workload which serve no useful purpose for the children we are meant to educate, they contribute only to the façade of a school being successful or value for money. The spectre of OFSTED is again very useful in enforcing compliance without question.

The staff have to bully the children, they have no choice, except perhaps to resign. We bully our pupils into fitting moulds, raising achievement in areas which are not in their interest nor interest them. They are fed half-lies about how important their SATs results are, we know full well that they only reflect on the school and, in particularly badly-managed establishments, the teacher; bullies always lie.

And at the bottom of the pile? Well, children have always been quite likely to bully each other, the lowliest victim beats himself up.