I don't think that it is so much the Muslims who are making a lot of these demands, rather than the western authorities, usually at local level, who seem to think that they know what wil be offensive to minority cultures.

The fact that they so often get it wrong - and I know of one example of cabs not being allowed to fly the English flag at the time of the World Cup, my son being one of the drivers involved and being threatened with the loss of his cab licence if he did not comply - suggests that the diversity training so prevalent these days is really not doing the job, or that there are a lot of 'little Hitlers' out there just itching to make up their own rules based on political correctness.

When I was eight I broke a front tooth. Until I was twelve the dentist could not put a crown in. When I went to a mixed Grammar school at the age of just eleven I was subjected to a great deal of teasing as a result, even from one of the teachers, who called me 'Toothy'. I do understand the effect of the teasing that goes on in schools - kids that age can be terribly cruel and there can be long lasting effects from that teasing.

When it happened to me I didn't even think of reporting it or telling my parents. One just put up with it. These days there does seem to be more of a push to put a stop to bullying, which will occur, given the nature of children, however much we might want it to stop. Taking that as a given I think that what needs to be done is to clamp down on bullying as soon as it is known about.

I'd like to know whether the child involved had had any previous history of being a bully or whether he had been bullied himself. In the case of a serial bully then maybe getting outside authorities involved might be the only way to make him understand the gravity of his acts, particularly if discussion with parents had not stopped him. If this was the first incident for this particular child it certainly sounds as if there has been an over reaction here, although maybe not on the part of the school. Hopefully the good that will come out of it is that this school will be well aware of the ramifications of that type of behaviour for the future.

Bullying is bullying, whether it is taking a poke at someone else's religious beliefs or making fun of someone's appearance or disability. Bullys prey upon what they percieve as another's weekness for their own entertainment. Then you have those who stand back and enjoy the spectacle, whilst not actually taking an active part. In this case that includes the media, who have picked this up. None of them come out of this clean and I think that we would be foolish to think that it won't happen again and again, given human nature.

Maybe all we can do is to be vigilant and nip in the bud any incident that looks as if it is going to be blown up in this way. That means that all of us have to be involved and not walk by on the other side of the street.