According to law, child protection is everyone's responsibility. There are the police, social services, child protection teams, child protection boards, child protection charities, family courts and the legislative powers of Government. A huge number of agencies, authorities, charities, policy makers and law makers are all supposed to be committed to child protection. And then there are MPs. Fine men and women elected to represent both us as individuals and our families, children and communities within the power base at Westminster.
So why is it that so many children are hurt by bullying and violence at school, some of which even commit suicide (currently the number one cause of death among young people)? According to the ONS), why won't lawmakers, public authorities and charities act?
Of course, citizens are also responsible for the safety and welfare of their children. So why do grieving parents who step up to report the harm done to their children face a wall of silence, indifference, inaction and even hostility from the state agencies that are paid to protect children? Why are extremely powerful media companies, including the BBC, reluctant to report on issues such as school bullying and child suicide, or fail to report on them at all?
Why do honourable MPs and Members of Parliament hesitate to meet with parents who report these tragic cases – even when those parents are residents of their own constituencies?
If the current problem of bullying and violence only affected a handful of children, the usual excuse that those in power are too busy to get embroiled in individual cases might apply. But the reality is quite different. Thousands of children are affected. Indications suggest the figure is around one in five of the UK school-age population. Why “indicates”? Because our Dispatch interviews revealed that data on serious bullying and violence in schools is often not recorded, and schools get away with it because the law allows it. Cases go unrecorded because of poor school management, or simply to protect their reputations and to cover up.
Importantly, if children's concerns about bullying and assault are properly recorded by law at school, they are much more likely to disclose other instances of abuse against them. Does the Government not want children to speak up and protect themselves? Many who investigate Government failure to act in child sexual abuse cases would think so.
In this remarkable Dispatch interview, Jason Barnett reveals how he lost his job and failed to get justice in court for speaking out about the rampant bullying in the special school where he was a teacher. More importantly, he learned that bullying is often brutal, leading to physical harm including suicide and impacting many children and families. When Jason reached out, he found that many of these families were traumatized and often lost, with their concerns either ignored or, worse, flagged down by the so-called child protection system.
Nearly seven years later, after rounding up families, holding meetings, discussions and publicity, Jason turned to the UK Column to tell the truth about the Government's failure to protect children in schools across the country.
What each of us can learn from these interviews is that not a single MP came forward to help the multiple families who reported similar abusive bullying in schools, in some cases leading to suicide. Not a single MP out of 650 MPs, including the Minister for Education, tried to understand the scale of the problem and the complete failure of our schools and education system to protect the children in their care.
Every MP was invited to a conference in Westminster on bullying and suicide in schools. Only one attended and that MP took no action. If that is the case, then each and every one of us has the opportunity to challenge our MP for their failure, cowardice and indifference to the preventable suffering of children who are bullied at school.
And action is needed because, as Jason Barnett said, “we live in a country where the government is locking adults at home to 'protect' them from a winter virus, while failing to take meaningful steps to protect children in schools.”
Should we allow our politicians to do this? If we do, we have failed as parents and as decent human beings. Watch the interview here:
This video is from Dispatches and is 1 hour and 23 minutes long. If you're listening to the audio only, please note that there are two very short sections with text on the screen and no audio. Contact information for Jason Barnett and Brian Gerrish is provided at the end of the video.
