Bullying of children with special needs in mainstream schools

In Vol. 7 No. 1 of Support for Learning we reported the initial findings of research into bullying conducted by Peter Smith and his colleagues at Sheffield University. Now, two years on, the team look at the incidence of bullying among children with special needs in mainstream schools. Their research concludes that statemented pupils, on the whole, are more likely to be victimised. General intervention strategies initiated by schools are effective in reducing bullying in this group without the need for specific targeting. We are, nevertheless, left with the worrying thought that this may not be necessarily true for the large number of pupils without statements who suffer some form of learning disability.