This week I read with horror the stories told to The Courier by Dundee parents whose children had been bullied in school.

I was struck by the apparent inaction from staff and education officials.

One pupil was “strangled” in the school playground and required hospital treatment.

Can you imagine being that kid’s mum and getting that call? This is primary school we’re talking about.

No child should be too scared to go to school and mums and dads shouldn’t be fearful of the state that they’ll return home at the end of the day.

The victims of bullies shouldn’t be the ones punished

But the answer isn’t by restricting the victims’ education and lives by giving them less time in school or not letting them outside during breaks, as suggested by the headteacher at Fintry Primary.

That seems a bit too reminiscent of the old “women shouldn’t walk alone at night by themselves” advice that was bandied about in the 60s and 70s.

In response to The Courier’s queries about the bullying problem, a Dundee City Council spokesperson gave a statement that said in part: “Bullying of any kind is unacceptable.”

Because by not substantially punishing the bully, by not showing it truly isn’t acceptable, your words are meaningless.

It has been a hair over 20 years (okay, a few hairs) since I was last in school and I’m not saying I was an angel by any stretch of the imagination.

But I remember having a level of fear of punishment when it came to stepping out of line.

Whether it was a punishment exercise (remember those?), detention after school, suspension or even expulsion, it was clear actions would have consequences.

I remember one instance after I decided to “redecorate” the walls of the toilets I had to stay late and paint over my handiwork. Lesson well and truly learned.

Nobody is taking control of the situation

I have spoken to teachers I know and many of them are equally frustrated by their lack of ability to do anything about a lot of these situations.

For example, one teacher told me their school had to stop after-school detention because parents complained the kids they would miss their bus home.

This brings me on to the next point: parents.

The schools can’t do this alone – the parents need to be onboard to help curb this issue.

That means they need to support whatever action a teacher or headteacher feels is appropriate when it comes to punishment and also reinforce this at home.

It means teaching children to respect grown-ups, especially the ones in a position of authority such as a teacher or police officer.

Stop making excuses for the kids who are bullying their peers and put the fear of God into them, whether it’s no Xbox for a month, grounding them or telling them they can’t play in the football team anymore.

These things are privileges, not rights and that means they can be taken away.

It means being good role models and being aware that small ears can still hear the big bad things being said around them. Because what children see and hear at home goes out with them into the world.

It means stop attacking the teachers and staff when they do try to put down some kind of boundary or punishment.

Some of these measures may be inconvenient for parents.

But all the blame cannot be thrown at schools for how they handle the situation.

Teachers are there to educate children, not police them.

They shouldn’t have to deal with these sorts of incidents in the first place, but if they have to then let’s give them the tools they need to really clamp down on it.

And that would mean a true zero-tolerance policy that walks the walk and doesn’t just talk the talk.

Bullying is widespread problem that needs a strong solution

I should add that I am by no means saying that it is only Dundee that is seeing these shocking levels of pupil on pupil violence and abuse.

We don’t need to go back too far to incidents in Fife and Perthshire, some of which were filmed and shared online.

In other parts of the country, pupils have even died as a result of attacks in school.

But that shows this is a widespread problem and in order to deal with it there needs to be a widespread solution.

One that involves the school staff, parents and the wider community.

If nothing changes, then this will continue and the outcomes could be even worse.

© The Courier