Merseyside couple wants government to change law around bullying in schools

A couple in Merseyside are supporting a national petition to change bullying laws after their son took his own life.

Leonard and Gail Wilson say that bullying at school contributed to their son, Nathan, deciding to end his life in 2013.

They are part of a campaign called 'Safer Schools' which are petitioning the government to make it UK law that schools have to follow national guidelines when it comes to bullying.

  • This was the only thing that Nathan left on his computer after he took his own life.

Although many schools have bullying policies in place, there is no legal requirement for them to record this or to notify parents.

The campaign says that there are laws to protect adults from being bullied in the workplace, but that there are none for young people in schools.

The changes to the law being proposed by the campaign are:

  • Schools must all follow a National Code of Conduct/Practice for dealing with bullying and violence complaints.

  • Schools must follow their written bullying policies by law.

  • Schools must record all incidents of bullying and violence brought to their attention.

  • All decisions in relation to bullying and violence complaints must be appealable to at least one other independent body above the School and Governors.

  • Details of outcomes of any bullying and violence complaints must be made available to the complainant from schools, Local Authorities, School Inspection bodies and Government Education Departments.

Leonard and Gail recently attended a meeting in Westminster, which every MP was invited to, however, only two turned up.

There are currently 18 families in the 'Safer Schools' campaign - find out more about their petition here.

  • Video report by Jennifer Buck