Letter: One way of keeping the bullies at bay

Sir: There were few, if any, victims of bullying in the school I attended. The potential problem was easily controlled through a simple chain of command which worked like this.

Starting at the top grade, (ie, the eldest students) any problems of bullying were sorted out by the biggest teacher in the school, a huge ex-rugby player - no contest. The class hard man had the responsibility of looking after the smallest and most-likely-to-be- bullied students in the next grade down. Anyone bullying those students had to answer to him.

This chain of command went down the line with the hard men in class five looking after the underdogs in class four and so on. My school had about 1,000 pupils, all boys, situated in the docklands of Dublin City and I started there in the first year class of 1947.

Yours faithfully,

JOE O'DONOGHUE

Hayes,

Middlesex

14 July