No bullying issue at SW school: principal

A Busselton principal has denied bullying has become a serious issue at his school after students were hospitalised following a schoolyard fight.

Busselton Senior High School principal Dainon Couzic said the feeling in the schoolyard was "positive and respectful" despite an incident involving a number of students last week.

"There was an isolated physical incident recently involving particular students, but we dealt with it at the time and there were consequences for those involved," he said.

"This was an isolated incident which spilled over from an issue in the community.

"We have a well-resourced student services department which caters to all students' needs, and so students have somewhere to turn if they need help with an issue."

In response to questions from the _Times _, Geographe Primary School principal Tim Baker said he didn't think bullying in general was "any more prevalent" now than before. Mr Baker said what had changed was society's attitude towards bullying.

"We are no longer prepared to accept and tolerate it … there are many strategies we now have available to deal with it," he said.

Mr Baker said his school had strategies to cope with the increasing issue of cyber bullying but added much of the responsibility lay with parents.

Busselton police Acting Senior Sergeant Todd Carrington said police weren't often involved in situations relating to school bullying if there was no criminality involved.

Sen. Sgt Carrington told the _Times _bullying took "many forms" and ideally police would like to see it end.

Bullying affects people of all ages, according to Dunsborough Primary School chaplain Rae Witham, who says it can occur in the schoolyard and in the workplace.

"It's usually an imbalance of power," she said. "And it's not a one-off incident, it's persistent."

Ms Witham said parents could help by having open communication channels with their students as well as school staff.

She said while it was a part of life, students needed to know they weren't alone.

Mr Couzic said while students at BSHS were not at risk at school, it was difficult to monitor what went on outside of the school grounds.

He said parents needed to keep an eye on their teenagers' activities, including online activities.