Letter: Schools must get tough on bullying

Letter: In reply to C Williams, our daughter has been bullied at school for the last two years and had reported over 89 incidents of bullying. The school's reply was if there are no witnesses, we can't do anything.

We agree with C Williams that it does not take long for the defence brigade to step in and try to protect the school. It does this by pushing bullying issues under the carpet; first by the headmaster, who thinks a problem is solved by the victim leaving the school – this was also the feeling of the chairman of governors.

When this does not work, the defence brigade come up with the idea to isolate the victim from the rest of the school, so that it keeps them out of the reach of the bullies. The bullies never have to alter their routine.

We e-mailed our school's chairman of governors, with concerns that the bullying was having a big effect on our daughter's health. We received a reply by mistake, that was intended for the headmaster, marked "for your information only", stating he would reply to our e-mail later and he had put in brackets "if ever".

Official complaints again- st the head or chairman of governors are heard by a co- mmittee selected by the ch- airman, which does not reassure you the complaint will be taken seriously. You can also forget the LEA, it finds it easier to back the school.

It's about time schools remember the lasting damage bullying does to a child.

Name and address supplied