Below is a very short round up of the general election manifestos from the three main political parties in England and what they have said about bullying and related issues. We in no way endorse any party over another and this is an article purely for information purposes.
View National Children's Bureau blog 'What are the party manifestos offering children?'
Conservative Party Manifesto
Cyberbullying was the only place in the manifesto where bullying was mentioned explicitly:
- Stated 'it should be as unacceptable to bully online as it is in the playground' [Page 79]
- Social media platforms: 'We will make clear the responsibility of platforms to enable the reporting of inappropriate, bullying, harmful or illegal content, with take-down on a comply-or-explain basis' [Page 79]
- Education and SRE: 'We will educate today’s young people in the harms of the internet and how best to combat them, introducing comprehensive Relationships and Sex Education in all primary and secondary schools to ensure that children learn about the risks of the internet, including cyberbullying and online grooming' [Page 79]
- Education: 'Every child will learn about mental wellbeing and the mental health risks of internet harms in the curriculum' [Page 73]
Mental health:
- Green Paper: A Conservative government will publish a green paper on young people’s mental health before the end of this year. [Page 72]
- School staff: We will introduce mental health first aid training for teachers in every primary and secondary school by the end of the parliament and ensure that every school has a single point of contact with mental health services. [Page 72]
- CAMHS: 'we will reform Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services so that children with serious conditions are seen within an appropriate timeframe and no child has to leave their local area and their family to receive normal treatment' [Page 73]
Labour Party Manifesto
The only direct mentions of bullying was relating to LGBT equality:
- School staff: 'To tackle bullying of LGBT young people, Labour will ensure that all teachers receive initial and ongoing training on the issues students face and how to address them. And we will ensure that the new guidance for relationships and sex education is LGBT inclusive.' [Page 111]
Mental health:
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Investment: 'Labour will invest in early intervention by increasing the proportion of mental health budgets spent on support for children and young people.' [Page 73]
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Support in schools: 'We will extend schools-based counselling to all schools to improve children’s mental health, at a cost of £90 million per year.' [Page 38]
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Support in schools: 'We will ensure that access to a counselling service is available for all children in secondary schools.' [Page 73]
Sex and Relationships Education:
- Compulsory SRE: 'We will make age-appropriate sex and relationship education a compulsory part of the curriculum so young people can learn about respectful relationships.' [Page 77]
Cyberbullying:
- Online safety: 'Labour will ensure that tech companies are obliged to take measures that further protect children and tackle online abuse.' [Page 88]
Liberal Democrat Party Manifesto
Bullying generally:
- Bullying in schools: 'We will ... Tackle bullying in schools, including bullying on the basis of gender, sexuality, gender identity or gender expression' [Page 29]
Mental health and wellbeing:
- School staff: 'We will ... Ensure that all teaching staff have the training to identify mental health issues and that schools provide immediate access for pupil support and counselling' [Page 29]
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Wellbeing in schools: 'We will ... Include promoting wellbeing as a statutory duty of a school, to be part of the Ofsted inspection framework.' [Page 30]
Sex and relationships education and PSHE
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Statutory PSHE: 'Introduce a curriculum entitlement – a slimmed down core national curriculum, which will be taught in all state-funded schools. This will include Personal, Social and Health Education: a ‘curriculum for life’ including financial Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2017 literacy, first aid and emergency lifesaving skills, mental health education, citizenship and age-appropriate Sex and Relationship Education (SRE).' [Page 28]
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SRE: 'Include in SRE teaching about sexual consent, LGBT+ relationships, and issues surrounding explicit images and content' [Page 29]