27 May 2011
In August 2010 Red Balloon Learner Centre Group commissioned the
first national survey to ascertain the number of young secondary
school children aged between 11 and 15 absent from school because
they had been subjected to severe bullying. The research was
undertaken by NatCen, Britain’s largest independent social research
organization, and was funded jointly by Red Balloon Learner Centre
Group, the Foyle Foundation and the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA).
Its findings are dramatic.
The report estimates that of the six million young people who
are in Years 7 – 10 and who attend a state school bullying is the
main reason given for persistent long-term absence in between
13,400 and 19,600 cases. This research is the first of its kind to
seek out the number of children self-excluding from school as a
result of severe bullying. All previous research about bullying has
focused on children within schools.
Questionnaires were sent to two groups of parents whose children
were absent from school and whose absence was likely to be due to
bullying. The first involved children who are frequently absent
from school, the second those who were home educated.
Commenting on the Report, Dr Carrie Herbert, Founder and Chief
Executive, Red Balloon Learner Centre Group said: “ This research
has given a well-founded estimate of how many children are unable
to go to school because they have been so badly bullied. We are
indebted to the Foyle Foundation and the ABA for enabling us to
commission this research, the first of its kind. We know the
Government appreciates the damaging consequences of severe bullying
and of children missing education, including the long-term effects
of low self-esteem and a poor academic record if these children are
not recovered. Red Balloon has an impressive record of enabling the
recovery of such children. 95% of the students who come to a Red
Balloon Centre and stay longer than six weeks are able to return to
school, go on to college or enter employment. However, to ensure
this provision is secure Red Balloon needs the Local Authorities
and/or the Government to set aside money to fund places at these
intensive care educational Centres. ”
David Hall, Chief Executive, Foyle Foundation, added: “As a
funder which supports learning, we considered it essential that Red
Balloon undertake this important research which was a real gap and
which will inform their expansion programme.”
Sue Steel, National Manager of the Anti-Bullying Alliance said:
“The ABA welcomes the report commissioned by Red Balloon and hopes
the findings will encourage government, schools and the wider
community to address this important issue.”
Founded in 1996 by Dr Carrie Herbert, Red Balloon is the only UK
charity that specifically recovers severely bullied children who
are out of school and missing an education, through the provision
of short-term educational, pastoral and social programmes.
The various research projects and independent assessments that
have previously been undertaken have helped to clarify the whole
bullying picture, from how many children are missing education to
why they are bullied and to the best ways of helping them recover
from its effects. This valuable quantitative research by National
Centre of Social Research will complement the findings of Red
Balloon’s own qualitative data collection, which includes
interviews with Red Balloon graduates who left at least five years
ago. Independent evaluations from external organisations such as
Ofsted help us complete the picture by validating our methods of
recovery.
The full report is available at www.redballoonlearner.org.uk
and www.natcen.ac.uk