JODIE MARSH: EVERY SCHOOL SHOULD HAVE A BULLYING OFFICER

In an interview with Politics First, celebrity glamour model and bodybuilder Jodie Marsh argued that every school in Britain should have a "bullying officer" to try and prevent children from suffering the torment she herself endured at the hands of bullies. She said: "There should be a bullying officer in every school who visits once or twice a week; a person who is quite young, quite trendy, someone who children would look up to. And this person would talk to the children during break times and lunchtimes and watch what is going on. This would help to create a more positive environment at school and foster an anti-bullying culture there."

Recalling her "horrendous" time at school, Jodie commented on how her bullies kicked footballs at her head, spat in her schoolbag and threw food at her in the canteen as well as verbally abusing her on a daily basis.

One day Jodie tried to stand up to her bullies. She said: "I took a football that had just been kicked into the side of my head and ran into the girls’ toilets with it. But one of the boys entered the toilet and grabbed the ball from me. Ironically, I got into trouble with the teachers for having taken the football!"

Although the bullying Jodie suffered predominantly took place at school, there was one occasion when the bullies took the bullying to her doorstep. "There was one occasion when the bullies turned up at my house one evening and began throwing bricks and bottles at the windows and the cars on the drive."

Asked about the response of her school to the bullying, Jodie said: "As for teachers, there were two who tried to help me in all the years I was at school. Basically, those two teachers used to offer me their classroom or office at lunchtime as a sanctuary to avoid the bullies."

Jodie still sees her bullies when she is out and about in Essex today. "I have probably seen all of them at one point or another. Some have apologised to me while one, whom I saw last year, told me that what he used to say to me was “just a bit of banter”. His comment demonstrated to me that bullies have no idea of the pain and suffering that they inflict on people through their actions. Whenever I see the ringleader of the group of boys who used to torment me, he still, to this day, gives me what I would call a ‘smug look’."

For further information on the interview with Jodie Marsh or on Politics First, please contact Marcus Papadopoulos (publisher/editor) on 020 3178 7837/07972374529 or at marcus.papadopoulos@ap-ps.org