Scottish Borders Youth Commission on Bullying

The Scottish Borders Youth Commission on Bullying presented 33 recommendations on preventing and managing bullying to the full Council on 29 March 2012.  The report was unanimously accepted.

The Council will continue to work with the Youth Commissioners to develop, implement and monitor a new policy on preventing and managing bullying behaviour in all learning settings for children and young people aged three to 18.

The Scottish Borders Youth Commission on Bullying was established in March 2011 following publication by the Scottish Government of A National Approach to Anti-Bullying for Scotland's Children and Young People in November 2010.

The Youth Commission brought together 12 young people to develop and make recommendations for a new policy for the prevention and management of bullying behaviour.

The Youth Commissioners are supported by an Advisory Board with representation from:

• Youngscot
• RespectMe
• NHS Borders
• Lothian and Borders Police
• Scottish Borders Council. 

Youth Commissioners

The Youth Commissioners considered the following areas in the development of their evidence-based recommendations:

• explore the issue of bullying behaviours - including cyber-bullying - within the context of education and learning
• gather the views of a cross-section of society/our community and stimulate debate on bullying behaviour, its impact on children and young people now and in the future and what needs to happen to manage this issue
• contribute to the co-production of policy alongside ourselves by making informed and evidenced recommendations
• recommend methods which would result in successful implementation of the policy
• recommend methods for the ongoing monitoring and review of the policy.

Youth Commissioners are aged 14 - 25 years old and live, work, or study in the Scottish Borders.  Further information on the activities of the Youth Commissioners should be found on our Facebook page.