ARETIRED teacher from Evesham has contributed to a new book which aims to help people beat the bullies.

Eric Jones, who turned 70 this week, is probably better known for his contribution to local theatrical productions but he was a teacher in London for 33 years.

Despite retiring in 2002, he still travels the country drawing on this experience to speak and share his ideas on bullying with teachers, pupils and governors.

He has now added his knowledge to a new book, The Essential Guide to Tackling Bullying, published by Pearson Educational.

Eric’s contribution focuses on bullying in secondary schools. He said: “As a teacher and then a deputy head you are dealing with this and you are forced to develop ways to respond to it.

“I am very passionate about bullying and was invited to be a speaker at the first National Conference on Bullying, organised by the charity Kidscape in the late 1980s.

“Some 20 to 30 years ago, most of us went to schools where bullying was commonplace, but nobody talked about it, and it went on at horrific levels.

“But if we start from the premise that bullying is not a proper way to behave, we can start to deal with it and now every school in the country has to, by law, have an anti-bullying policy in their prospectus. This has got to be a good thing.

“It promotes the message that children need to report bullying, and it lets them know they will have support. By the time they actually report it it’s normally really serious as most don’t report it the first time it happens.

“But bullying can scar people for a long, long time. The bully does not always understand what they are doing, so this is why it’s so important to address the problem.”

Eric’s talks to schools cover what bullying is, how to prevent it and how to deal with it so everybody feels a positive outcome.

He is often invited back to the same schools year after year to talk to the new intake of children and nip the problem in the bud.

He said: “If we get rid of it, everybody wins. Pupils are happier, grades go up and the school gets more interest and the financial benefits that come with that.

“Bullying is totally absurd, and with the talks I give we sometimes descend into fits of hysterics, which really helps the kids to remember the more serious message.”

He is pleased that with the book he has been able to promote some of the ideas which he has found have worked so well.

“The book is a resource for teachers and I hope it will give people a pragmatic approach to dealing with bullying.

“It’s not lecturing, it simply talks about triedand- tested methods I myself have used and I’m proud to be able to say that I have had 14 and 15-yearolds shaking hands and promising to try and better understand each other.”

Eric is donating all his royalties from The Essential Guide to Tackling Bullying to Kidscape.