Liberal Democrats commit to "4QuidaKid" to tackle bullying

2.00.06am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 26th Mar 2007

The Liberal Democrats have today announced they will be the first political party to sign up to the Beatbullying 4QuidAKid campaign. The scheme would support bullying prevention programmes for children and young people nationwide.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell said "Failing to create safe surroundings for children at school leads to lower educational attainment, higher unemployment and higher levels of anti-social behaviour. The Government must help to ensure that teachers, pupils and parents are equipped with the skills and confidence to root out and tackle all forms of bullying."

Northgate Councillor Gordon Seekings said "I was a bullied kid and school and the emotional scars never really heal. I'm pleased that my party have signed up to this initiative."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, Sarah Teather MP said "I'm proud to back this Beatbullying campaign and announce that the Liberal Democrats will pledge 4 quid a kid to tackle bullying head on. 4 quid a kid is a small investment that can bring about amazing, life changing results. Every child deserves a school that is a happy place to go every day.

Continuing Sarah said "Tackling bullying is about standards and discipline. No child can reach their potential if they are afraid. And no child who is the victim of bullying will think much of this government's claims to have zero tolerance on school discipline. The Liberal Democrats take bullying seriously because we know that it is deadly serious for its young victims."

Notes

1) The charity group Beatbullying says it would cost £4 per child to set up prevention programmes in every school in Britain, and have launched '4QuidAKid.' The Liberal Democrats have committed themselves to the scheme by signing the online petition at Beatbullying <http://www.beatbullying.org/>

2) The announcement comes ahead of a Commons Education Committee report into bullying on Tuesday 27th March, which is reported to criticise the government for the lack of a national plan of action to tackle bullying.