Schools and teachers in Scotland are being given the chance to share anti-bullying strategies online.

A database has been created on a website run by the Anti-Bullying Network.

It contains feedback from 480 Scottish schools who replied to a questionnaire.

The information is available online

Teachers will be able to search the site and assess the effectiveness of different approaches.

The Anti-Bullying Network was established by the Scottish Executive so that teachers, parents and young people can share ideas about how bullying should be tackled.

It provides a telephone information line, distributes newsletters to schools and organises conferences across the country.

The network set up its own website in 1999.

It now gives details of hundreds of Scottish schools where anti-bullying schemes are already operating successfully.

Colleagues' experience

The information was gleaned from a 2001 questionnaire asking schools to outline the strategies they used to tackle bullying.

Through the new database teachers can share information about tackling bullies and draw on the experience of colleagues.

The range of strategies includes buddy schemes, pupil councils and no-blame approaches where pupils take responsibility for tackling the problem.

It is hoped teachers will use the site to find new ways to deal with bullying, and assess the advantages and pitfalls of any schemes before they are introduced in their own schools.