Two days after National MP Sam Uffindell was stood down following allegations of historic bullying, one expert says the situation is "symptomatic of a broader issue".
John Fenaughty, a social work lecturer at the University of Auckland who specialises in youth wellbeing, told Breakfast the allegations against Uffindell don't surprise him because they reflect New Zealand's consistent poor performance in global measures around bullying.
The most-recent study of school bullying rates in the OECD showed New Zealand had the second highest out of 48 countries.
"I think some schools in particular really struggle with some cultural elements, and of course we're looking back a couple of decades to what was happening and since that time there have been a lot of changes," Fenaughty said.
"Nonetheless, we still are seeing really concerning rates of bullying."
He described bullying as "endemic to schools" and said "what we really need is for schools to admit, 'yes there's bullying, and this is what we're doing to proactively manage it'.
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"There is no school where there is no bullying, it's simply impossible, but there are good schools that can manage the bullying when it does occur.
"If the culture (of a school) rewards harassment, if it rewards violent behaviours, if it rewards intolerance of difference, then we start to get a culture that fosters these kinds of situations where people can take the law into their own hands."
And bullying fundamentally interrupts the "key part of adolescent development, which is finding out who you are," Fenaughty added.
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"Boarding school is a particular context because there is no escape. It's not like you can go home and get out of this at the end of the day... you're pretty much there around that culture all the time, and in that way it's similar to cyber-bullying in some ways.
"I think there are particular concerns about the culture and the policies and processes at boarding schools."
But, Fenaughty is certain the situation can improve.
"It's a complicated problem, but we do have a number of levers we can pull to resolve it."
Uffindell has been stood down from National's caucus pending the results of an investigation.
He has admitted to attacking a younger student while at school, but denies allegations of bullying behaviour during his time at university.
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