Guitar heroes to beat bullies (From Oxford Mail)

Guitar heroes to beat bullies

6:20am Monday 19th January 2009

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An Oxfordshire school has been handed thousands of pounds to buy the latest computer games — including Guitar Hero — to beat bullying.

The scheme is part of a new Government programme to reach vulnerable children and support a child’s basic right to play.

Pupils at Gosford Hill School in Kidlington have been given £2,500 by Oxfordshire County Council to buy a Nintendo Wii games console, a table football game and to launch a competition to find the school’s ultimate virtual music hero.

Maths teacher Alan Slater, who set up the Breakfast Club in 2007, said it was part of an inclusion drive.

He added: “We don’t target any particular student, but we do strongly suggest some kids come along and get involved.

“The point of it is to get all the children playing the games together.”

The money was awarded to the school last week by a new project called the Community Chest Friends, which has been given £80,000 by the Government to encourage play projects across the county and tackle bullying.

So far the scheme has helped only a handful of projects and Gosford Hill is the only school to receive money for a Wii concole, costing £180.

But Zoe Elford, the council’s children’s rights co-ordinator, said the authority wanted more children to get involved.

She added: “It’s part of wider efforts to combat bullying and reach socially vulnerable children.

“The money is for children who are maybe from poorer homes and who might not have access to these sorts of games.”

Pupils discovered the benefits of playing the Nintendo Wii — and a programme called Wii Fit — last year, when clinically obese children were encouraged to use it to lose weight.

Players use the ‘Wii-mote’ to direct a virtual character through a variety of activites on screen.

Along with the Wii Fit programme, pupils have been playing a game called Guitar Hero, where players compete on a guitar-shaped handset and play along to well-known songs.

The game proved so popular with students, that they need to buy another and the school now plans to launch a Guitar Hero competition, using some of the council money to buy prizes for the winners.

Rani Ahluwalia, 11, from Priory Court, Bicester, said: “Guitar Hero is my favourite game. It’s really popular and there’s always loads of people on it.”

Dani Jaques, 12, from Fairfax, Kidlington, said: “It’s much better to come in here and play on it than being outside where it’s cold.”

Richard Piggins, a spokes-man for the anti-bullying charity Beat Bullying, said: “Breaking down barriers and opening communications between young people, with an emphasis on peer-to-peer lead practice, can help to reduce bullying incidents between young people.”

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