An anti-bullying charter is being drawn up in a bid to stop pupils in north Antrim being tormented on the way to class, it emerged today.
Police and education chiefs are involved in the new initiative in Ballymena area where a young victim committed suicide.
Aaron Armstrong, a first year student at Cambridge House Grammar School, took his own life in June after being plagued on the daily bus journey.
The tragedy provoked Democratic Unionist leader Reverend Ian Paisley to demand a public inquiry. Although the Northern Ireland authorities rejected his call, they have faced mounting pressure to put together a plan to prevent any other children going through the same levels of despair.
The Safe School Transport Group will examine journeys for signs of trouble or stress. A group spokesman said: "We are conscious of concerns that some pupils have been bullied on their way to and from school and that some pupils have been causing a nuisance to members of the public.
"Often bullying can be psychological and is not obvious to anyone but the victim and perpetrator. "One avenue we are exploring is creating a code of conduct that can be implemented to curb anti-social behaviour." PSNI officers, school principals, the Department of Education, Translink and Childline are all involved in the scheme. It will operate under the umbrella of Ballymena Community Safety Partnership.
"We want pupils to feel that there are responsible people they can turn to if they face problems," the spokesman added. "To help in this work, we will be running a Childline education programme in schools. "The physical and emotional safety of children travelling to and from school will be a priority for the Safe School Transport Group.
"We want to ensure there is a structure in place that has the interests of the pupils at heart, and they know that any concerns they have will be dealt with sympathetically and professionally."