Practice 8 for IELTS Reading

Persistent bullying is among the most challenging experiences a child can endure.
How can it be prevented?
Peter Smith, a Psychology Professor at the University of Sheffield, led the Sheffield
Anti-Bullying Intervention Project, funded by the Department for Education.
Here he presents his findings

A. Bullying can take a variety of forms, from the verbal -being taunted or called hurtful names- to the physical- being kicked or shoved- as well as indirect forms, such as being excluded from social groups. A survey I conducted with Irene Whitney found that in British primary schools up to a quarter of pupils reported experience of bullying, which in about one in ten cases was persistent. There was less bullying in secondary schools, with about one in twenty-five suffering persistent bullying, but these cases may be particularly recalcitrant.

B. Bullying is clearly unpleasant, and can make the child experiencing it feel unworthy and depressed. In extreme cases it can even lead to suicide, though this is thankfully rare. Victimised pupils are more likely to experience difficulties with interpersonal relationships as adults, while children who persistently bully are more likely to grow up to be physically violent, and convicted of anti-social offences.

C. Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was available to teachers to deal with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools would often deny the problem. ‘There is no bullying at this school’ has been a common refrain, almost certainty lllltrue. Fortunately more schools are now saying: There is not much bullying here, but when it occurs we have a clear policy for dealing with it.’

D. Three factors are involved in this change. First is an awareness of the severity of the problem. Second, a number of resources to help tackle bullying have become available in Britain. For example, the Scottish Collllcil for Research in Education produced a package of materials, Action Against Bullying, circulated to all schools in England and Wales as well as in Scotland in summer 1992, with a second pack, Supporting Schools Against Bullying, produced the following year. In Ireland, Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour in Post-Primary Schools was published in 1993. Third, there is evidence that these materials work, and that schools can achieve something. This comes from carefully conducted ‘before and after I evaluations of interventions in schools, monitored by a research team. In Norway, after an intervention campaign was introduced nationally, an evaluation of forty-two schools suggested that, over a two-year period, bullying was halved. The Sheffield investigation, which involved sixteen primary schools and seven secondary schools, found that most schools succeeded in reducing bullying.

E. Evidence suggests that a key step is to develop a policy on bullying, saying clearly what is meant by bullying, and giving explicit guidelines on what will be done if it occurs, what record will be kept, who will be informed, what sanctions will be employed. The policy should be developed through consultation, over a period of time-not just imposed from the head teacher’s office! Pupils, parents and staff should feel they have been involved in the policy, which needs to be disseminated and implemented effectively.

Additional measures can support this policy. Ways to address this issue through the curriculum, using video, drama, and literature, are effective in raising awareness and can be integrated during the early stages of development when schools begin to address bullying. They are also beneficial for updating the policy for new students or revising it based on experience. However, focusing solely on curriculum efforts may yield only short-term benefits; they should complement policy initiatives rather than replace them.
There are also methods for working with individual students or small groups. Assertiveness training for students vulnerable to victimization is valuable, and strategies like ‘no blame’ for group bullying can help change the behavior of bullies without direct confrontation, though additional measures may be necessary for persistent bullies.

Playground supervision is crucial as well. One effective approach involves training lunchtime supervisors to differentiate between bullying and playful skirmishes, and aiding them in resolving conflicts. Another strategy is enhancing the playground environment to minimize opportunities for bullying arising from boredom or frustration.

F. With these developments, schools can expect that at least the most serious kinds of bullying can largely be prevented. The more effort put in and the wider the whole school involvement, the more substantial the results are likely to be. The reduction in bullying – and the consequent improvement in pupil happiness- is surely a worthwhile objective.

Questions 27-30Reading Passage 153 has sixsections,Choose the correct heading for sections A-D from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-vii, in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.______________________________________________________

List of Headings

i  The role of video violenceii  The failure of government policyiii  Reasons for the increased rate of bullyingiv  Research into how common bullying is in British schoolsv  The reaction from schools to enquiries about bullyingvi  The effect of bullying on the children involvedvii Developments that have led to a new approach by schools______________________________________________________

27  Section  A28  Section  B29  Section  C30  Section  D

Questions 31-34Choose the correct letter. A. B. C or D.Write the con·ect letter in boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet.31 A recent survey found that in British secondary schoolsA. there was more bullying than had previously been the case.B. there was less bullying than in primary schools.C. cases of persistent bullying were very common.D. indirect forms ofbullying were particularly difficult to deal with.

32 Children who are bulliedA. are twice as likely to commit suicide as the average person.B. fmd it more difficult to relate to adults.C. are less likely to be violent in later life.D. may have difficulty forming relationships in later life.33 The writer thinks that the declaration ‘There is no bullying at this school’A. is no longer true in many schools.B. was not in fact made by many schools.C. reflected the school’s lack of concern.D. reflected a lack of knowledge and resources.

34 What were the findings of research canied out in Norway?A. Bullying declined by 50% after an anti-bullying campaign.B. Twenty-one schools reduced bullying as a result of an anti-bullying campaignC. Two years is the optimum length for an anti-bullying campaign.D. Bullying is a less serious problem inN orway than in the UK.

Questions 35-39Complete the summary belowChoose NO MORE THAN TW’O WORDS from the passage for each answerWrite your answers in boxes 35-39 on your answer sheet.

What measures should schools implement to reduce bullying?

The most important step is for the school authorities to produce a 35 ………………….. which makes the school’s attitude towards bullying quite clear. It should include detailed 36 …………………… as to how the school and its staff will react if bullying occurs. In addition, action can be taken through the 37 ……………………… This is particularly useful in the early part of the process, as a way of raising awareness and encouraging discussion On its own, however, it is insufficient to bring about a permanent solution. Effective work can also be done with individual pupils and small groups. For example, potential38 ……………………. of bullying can be trained to be more self-confident. Or again, in dealing with group bullying, a ‘no blame’ approach, which avoids confronting the offender too directly, is often effective. Playground supervision will be more effective if members of staff are trained to recognise the difference between bullying and mere 39 ……………………. .

Question 40Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet.