What Should Schools Teach? 10 suggestions by @RichardJARogers

#5: To respect other peoples’ rights to an opinion

This is a no-brainer, yet statistics on bullying suggest that more needs to be done.

Stopbullying.gov (a US government organisation) compiled a fact sheet based on a variety different studies and reports that:

70.6% of young people say they have seen bullying in their schools (2007).
70.4% of school staff have seen bullying. 62% witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month and 41% witness bullying once a week or more (2007).

In the U.K. the statistics reveal an equally disturbing picture. In a 2016 survey carried out by Ditch the Label (a U.K. based anti-bullying charity), it was found that:

1.5 million young people (50%) were bullied in the year prior to the survey
145,800 (19%) of these were bullied EVERY DAY
People who have been bullied are almost twice as likely to bully others
Twice as many boys as girls bully (66% of males vs. 31% females)

Clearly, these figures are unacceptable and much, much more needs to be done to address bullying in schools.

I would suggest that anti-bullying initiatives must focus on education, not on more sanctions for students who bully.

The following strategies should be taken on by every school:

The United Nations declared May 4th as ‘Anti-Bullying Day‘. What does your school do on May 4th? Consider holding a theme-based day with activities in which kids can get to know about each other’s cultures and preferences better and learn to appreciate diversity.
Diversity, religious freedom, human rights and bullying education as part of a comprehensive PSHE curriculum at all levels of school (even up to and including pre-university students)
Assigning student buddies
Having an assigned member of staff act as a school counsellor
Education on cyber-bullying and school-wide implementation of the S.M.A.R.T. acronym given below: