By Paul Reoch

SHOCKING FIGURES show a catalogue of bullying carried out on pupils throughout Perthshire, with two of Perth’s secondary schools being the worst culprits.

Statistics obtained by The Courier through the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 show high levels of bullying at a variety of schools, including Breadalbane Academy, Crieff High, Kinross High and Pitlochry High, but by far the most alarming incidents occurred at Perth Academy and Perth High.

During the 2003/04 school year, which ran from August 2003-June 2004, the number of bullying incidents recorded at Perth Academy was 31, followed by 24 the next year.

At Perth High, the situation was even worse with 34 incidents during 2002/03, 52 during 2003/04 and 53 in 2004/05.

At Perth Academy most of these acts of abuse involved physical attacks, including one incident of a pupil being punched in the face and a youngster having their belongings spat on.

The majority of bullying at Perth High School consisted of what is termed “violent” abuse.

And of these incidents it seems that it’s the youngest pupils who are picked on.

At Perth Academy of the 31 acts of bullying in 2003/04, 14 of these were carried out on S1 children (aged between 12 and 13), and 11 S2 pupils (aged between 13 and 14).

Similarly, at Perth High during 2003/04, of the 52 incidents, 19 were on S1 children and 15 on S2, with the corresponding figures for the following year being 16 and 20.

But the levels of bullying were not just confined to the Perth schools, with acts of persistent intimidation taking place at Breadalbane Academy in Aberfeldy, name calling at Crieff High and abusive text messaging at Pitlochry High.

The figures for Breadalbane Academy for 2004/05 were 14, 12 for Crieff High during 2003/04, with St Columba’s in Perth having the lowest rates of bullying, with only one recorded for 2003/04.

On the plus side, the overall number of incidents in comparison with the region’s school roll actually fell from 2.3% in 2003/04 to 1.5% in 2004/05.

And the figures also show the continued improvement at Blairgowrie High School, which has gone from suffering a bullying crisis two years ago to being recognised by the Scottish Executive as a “school of ambition” this year.

Its levels of bullying were eight for the 2002/03 term, seven for 2003/04 and eight for 2004/05.

The school, which was once dubbed “Battlefield High,” underwent a variety of unique measures totalling £1.8 million, to rectify the problems, through its rector John Fyffe.

Schools in Perth and Kinross deal with the bullying by a variety of methods, including meeting the children’s parents, issuing warnings to those involved or excluding pupils from the school for a set period.

However, despite these damning figures, Perth and Kinross Council have said their anti- bullying policy is paying dividends, through a range of strategies introduced in schools.

A spokeswoman said yesterday there is now an agreed definition of bullying applied in Perthshire schools, following its introduction in April.

She explained, “Bullying is termed as repeated violence, physical or psychological...over time conducted by an individual or a group against an individual who is not able to deal effectively with the actual situation.

“Pupils are actively encouraged to report any incidents of bullying, and parents have also every opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have with the relevant schools.

“Perth and Kinross Council continue to support the Anti- Bullying Network and our statistics are markedly better than the national figures, which state that about one in 12 pupils reported they had been a victim of regular bullying.”

Among the strategies implemented are peace make schemes, friendship benches, advice on how to handle conflict and raising self-esteem.

Councillor George Hayton, convener of the council’s lifelong learning committee, said, “Perth and Kinross Council is doing everything it can to reduce cases of bullying and that is why every one of our schools has an anti-bullying policy in place.

“Unfortunately bullying does happen, but we are not complacent and with the support of parents, school staff, pupils and local communities, we are determined to tackle it.”

The incidence of bullying has again come to the fore of public thinking with two cases that occurred last month in England gaining notoriety for their savageness.

One involved Shanni Taylor (12), of Sheffield, who had to have 30 stitches inserted after her face was slashed in class.

And Natashia Jackman (15) was stabbed with a pair of scissors at Collingwood College in Camberley.

The bullying statistics have prompted Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham to investigate the matter further.

She said last night, “Any level of bullying is unacceptable and I know that the school managements and the council’s education department take bullying very seriously indeed and are working hard to combat bullying in schools.

“I want to find out more about the reality behind these figures and I will be contacting the council to do that.”