Reaction to: Teachers report 'racist bullying'

Bullying is also a problem I have to deal with at school. It happens that children think it is necessary to bully a classmate or an other pupil at school, because of their looks or other ridiculous reasons. The bullied children feel horrible and sometimes they stay at home, because they are too afraid to come to school. They are scared to tell their parents or teachers about the situation and that is why it can continue for many weeks before someone discovers it. Some teachers do not spend time on these kind of problems and that is why there should be an anti-bullying policy at every school. In this anti-bullying policy we can find the sanctions in case of bullying and this should prevent it from happening. That is why I think that every school should have this policy!

Possible topic for the speakers corner: All schools must have an anti-bullying policy

Speaker's corner: Teachers report 'racist bullying'

Bullying is a problem every school has to deal with. In this article it is said that all schools should have an anti-bullying policy. The majority of the 802 questioned teachers agree on this matter. They are very worried about the religious intolerance at their schools. It is important that all pupils feel safe at school and the anti-bullying policy might help to reach that. All schools have to take every incident of racist bullying seriously and they have to report all cases to the local authorities. The questioned teachers think that there should be a training to learn how to cope with racism. A training for teachers and an anti-bullying policy might contribute to the safety of pupils.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8014880.stm

Reaction to: The boy who is always in trouble

Le petit Nicolas versus Horrid Henry

I think it is interesting to see that the English have their own petit Nicolas. Naughty boys are probably an interesting subject to read about for children. This year my pupils had to read Le petit Nicolas. Though the used language is old and very difficult to read all the boys agreed that the book was very funny. The main reason why they loved reading it? Because Nicolas and his classmates are fighting most of the time and causing lots of trouble. The girls did not like reading this story, because it reminded them too much of the irritating boys in their class. I am wondering if the episodes of Horrid Henry could be used for reading in class.

The boy who is always in trouble

Le petit Nicolas versus Horrid Henry

Le petit Nicolas is a very famous children’s book in France. It appears to be one of the “national treasures” in French literature. Though the stories of Nicolas are not well known in England, the English seems to have their own petit Nicolas. Horrid Henry and petit Nicolas are the same kind of naughty boys who are always in trouble. The writing style in Le petit Nicolas can be annoying and irritating and that is probably the main reason why those books are not very famous in England. It is quite ironic that the English are not familiar with Nicolas while the French say that Nicolas is more an English boy in the way he jokes and in the way he dresses. Perhaps this will change in the future, because old children’s books seem to become popular again those days.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7968000/7968094.stm

Reaction to: UK teenager 'saved by Facebook'

MSN, Hyves and Facebook are sites most pupils are familiar with. They use them to create their own profile and to chat. Mostly the messages are friendly, but it also happens a lot that children use these sites for bullying. Last year I had many pupils who were being bullied by chatting. That is why most people have a quite negative impression of these kind of sites. It is a surprise to me that it can also be used to save someone’s life. This boy was very lucky that all the authorities took the alarm very seriously and that he could be saved. I think it is fantastic to see that there is also something very positive about Facebook and other comparable sites.

UK teenager 'saved by Facebook'

Thinking about Facebook it is difficult to imagine how this site can save someone’s life. An English boy, aged sixteen, was chatting with a girl in the United States. He told her that he wanted to commit suicide by taking a drugs overdose. The American girl told her mother about this situation and her mother called the police. They were able to track the boy down by calling the White House and the British Embassy. The police found the boy after taking the overdose, but despite the overdose he was still conscious. They took him to the hospital and he recovered well. The use of Facebook saved his life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7983725.stm