Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ruth Suter

Nicola Sturgeon hails Daily Record's youth violence campaign and vows to tackle bullying in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon has hailed the Daily Record's Our Kids, Our Future campaign as she vows to commit to tackling youth violence in Scotland.

It comes after the First Minister was asked how the Scottish Government plans to address the issue in parliament on Tuesday. Sturgeon responded by backing our campaign, which calls for more resources for youths in communities and demands social media giants take action to remove video clips showing violent attacks on children.

Our Kids, Our Future also asks everyone in Scotland to play their part by reporting damaging content online to safeguard kids from further harassment.

Addressing the question, Sturgeon said: "We all have responsibility. The Daily Record campaign is very clear about it and I applaud its campaign. I am very clear that bullying and harassment anywhere, particularly in schools, is completely unacceptable. We should have a zero-tolerance to it.

"The Cabinet Secretary and I are committed to further work to address this. Last week, Education Scotland published a report that we commissioned on the recording and monitoring of bullying in schools.

"We have since announced and commenced a review of the anti-bullying guidance. This is a serious issue and one that I want to show the country that the Scottish Government takes very seriously."

The matter was raised during First Minister's Questions by MSP Willie Rennie, following a number of violent incidents in classrooms within his constituency. The Liberal Democrat Leader asked if the Scottish Government will provide additional resources to schools to allow teaching staff to "cope" with the problem.

He said: "Teachers are fed up from picking up the pieces. They don't think there are enough resources to be able to manage it. Will additional resources be available to help them cope with this crisis?"

Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party Willie Rennie (PA)

Sturgeon responded by addressing our aim for more resources based in communities.

She said: "The Daily Record has drawn attention to this in terms of funding, to make sure that there are places for young people to go. This is not just an issue about what happens in our schools, it is a wider issue about how young people are coping with the pressures of modern life, particularly over the last few years.

"I will have further discussions with the Education Secretary over my remaining few weeks about this issue."

Sturgeon also reacted to our demand for tech giants to crackdown on violent, viral clips that have recently swept through Scotland for 'likes and popularity'.

She said: "I think all of us would accept that this is not a new issue in our schools, however the use of social media in the modern world means that bullying often takes different forms today compared to some years ago. There is a role for social media companies and frankly, there is a role for us as adults in our own communities to make sure that children and young people are safeguarded and respected.

"Government, national and local, has to take the lead in this but we all have a part to play and I am sure all of us take that seriously. All of us, as adults in communities, have a responsibility and a role to make sure that children are properly cared for and safeguarded.

"It is in some ways a complex problem but we shouldn't allow that to take us away from the collective responsibility we have to tackle it. Schools can't be solely responsible for what happens outside of schools. The police of course have a key role to play and I know that they take that role really seriously."

Our Kids, Our Future was launched in February after the Record reported on a disturbing series of attacks on teens. In October, we told how then 12-year-old Abbie Jarvis was beaten black and blue in a violent incident that left her in hospital for two days. She still hasn't been able to return to school.

Shortly after, the mum of 13-year-old Elle McLellan came forward to reveal a horrific attack that her daughter suffered from at the hands of bullies. She required bolts in her knee after her kneecap was smashed in a beating that took place just outside her front door in Glasgow.

Sickening clips of both incidents, alongside hundreds of others showing brutal attacks on kids, have gone viral on social media.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.