guardian | Many bullying experts rightly focus on the plight of vulnerable
children targeted by bullies but, before now, I wonder how many of us
considered being intelligent or talented a vulnerability? More than 90%
of the 1,000 11-16 year-olds we recently surveyed said they had been
bullied or seen someone bullied for being too intelligent or talented.
Worryingly, this means our children and young people are shying away
from academic achievement for fear of victimisation.
Almost half
of children and young people (49.5%) have played down a talent for fear
of being bullied, rising to 53% among girls. One in 10 (12%) said they
had played down their ability in science and almost one in five girls
(18.8%) and more than one in 10 boys (11.4%) are deliberately
underachieving in maths – to evade bullying.
The government has
recently pledged funding to develop a new maths course for sixth-formers
based on the assumption that current maths courses are inaccessible to
youngsters who can't see the relevance of the subject to their lives.
What our findings are telling us though, is that there is more at play
here. And we want government to take note.
What used to be left in
the playground is now following children home, through social media.
And what may have been historically viewed as a short-term problem,
which many of us endured during our school days – but not necessarily
beyond – can have a dramatic impact on our young people's futures. Fist tap Dale.
