[UPDATE:25/05/70 Brown Pledge to Tackle Bullies] In Bolton the SEAL programme (Social Emotional Aspects of Learning), delivered by the Behaviour Support Service, has been running for about 2 years now in a good number of primary schools and in an equally good number the programme has been well received. Now the DfES are looking to get it into the high schools. Interestingly, SEAL hasn’t a been a tool for schools with difficult children. It’s gone much wider than that and become a programme that deals with wide ranging issues.

Interesting then that the BBC report on SEAL today under the immotive headline ‘’Behaviour Lessons for Teenagers ‘’

The DfES says that primary schools have reported a decrease in problems such as bullying and fighting where the emotional intelligence lessons have been taught.

The type of subject areas covered would include developing empathy - such as showing how someone else might feel or another point of view; managing strong feelings such as anger and recognising the rights of others.

Among the primary schools to have taken part in a pilot was Vicarage Park in Kendal, Cumbria - with the head teacher Anne Hallam saying that the scheme had a significant impact upon helping boys to articulate their emotions.

Coincidentally Sandy Holt , the Boltonian Muay Thai Kick-boxer, is on channel 5 as I write featuring as a main subject of the documentary called Short Angry Men .  He suffered at the hands of bullies at high school and puts a lot of it down to his stature.  Sandy the ‘man’ has just re-visited his old high school on TV to talk about bullying with some of the children in the sports hall.  Sandy is openly emotional, still, about his experiences in the school as a boy. Now, one of the best known kick boxers in the world, Sandy says that his life has been clearly shaped by his high school experiences at the hands of bullies.

A BBC radio phone-in at lunch time served to heat up the argument about ‘values’ and ‘respect’ starting in the home. ‘’In my day…'’ was a popular opening phrase.  One Head described SEAL as an attitude that went across the whole of her high school - staff included.  In her view, respect between colleagues breeds respect at all levels.

Personally I’ve no children of high school age so I’m in no position to comment but I do have a 6 and a 4 year old who are currently fast asleep, tucked up in bed.  No hanging about on street corners, no arguing for the remote control, no MSN’ing people I don’t know, no publishing of personal information to their MySpace.  Yep - for a short while I’m being given the illusion of parental control.

But things will change.  Will SEAL be the solution or will it be my fault? Answers please - quick.

JB