Bradford & District | Archive | 2005 | August | 17
From the archive, first published Wednesday 17th Aug 2005.
Many congratulations to 18-year-old Melanie Smith, of Clayton, on receiving the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Award for Young People for her work in helping to devise an anti-bullying strategy for Bradford schools.
Bullying is a blight on too many young lives, and yet the official approach to it has in the past been piecemeal. For instance, Melanie and other members of the team set up by the Young People's Scrutiny Commission - which is made up of students, councillors and community representatives - discovered that there was no overall policy in Bradford. Indeed, the Council had no idea of the extent of the problem because bullying was not recorded in that way. So the team recommended that the authority develop a definition of bullying and then take serious steps to tackle it.
Thanks to the efforts of Melanie and her colleagues, who consulted with children and experts, the Council has accepted their recommendations that Education Bradford works with the district's young people to see how a new policy involving anti-bullying training can be implemented throughout the schools.
Their success in affecting Council policy demonstrates that young people can influence things in Bradford. As Melanie says, there are a lot of young people out there who can help, who can make a difference. It's important that as many as possible become involved in the work of the Young People's Scrutiny Commission, particularly on highly relevant issues like this where their input is greatly valued.
It is from the inside, working constructively, that they stand the best chance of changing things for the better.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008