Bullying Prevention

• Ensure your child understands that they can always approach you to talk about challenging situations at school, including conflict and bullying.

• When your child confides about bullying, listen intently and gather all the details first before responding. Try to not react emotionally while acknowledging their bravery for speaking up.

• Work with your child to create a plan on how to report and deal with bullying. Consider options like talking to the person bullying, staying close to friends, or telling a teacher. It can be helpful to Role-play scenarios to practice how to handle situations.

• Depending on your student's age and the nature of the situation, decide together whether they should report it alone or with your help.

• Activity to look at the school policy to notice what actions are required, what supports are present, etc. These are often printed in the school handbook or posted on the school website.

• Should a meeting with the school be needed, Inform your child about reaching out to the school, and send a written request for a meeting, including your child's account of the incidents. During the meeting, focus on solutions rather than assigning blame. Keep a documented record of your discussions with the school.

• Teach your child how to handle cyberbullying:

  • Don't answer back

  • Save the messages in case they are needed for reporting

  • Tell an adult

  • Block the person bullying

  • Report it on the applicable online platform (such as Instagram).

  • Report to the school. If the cyberbullying involves classmates or occurs within the school community, consider reaching out to school authorities. They can provide additional support to your child.

  • Educate on Online Safety: Use any online situation that occurs as an opportunity to educate your child about online safety measures, such as being cautious about sharing personal information and setting privacy settings on social media accounts.

Although cyberbullying is a type of bullying and follows the same protocols for response, some unique characteristics are important to understand.

• Anonymous: When someone cyberbullies, they can hide their identity, making it hard for the person being bullied to know who is targeting them. This allows the bully to remain undetected.

• Difficult to Detect: Cyberbullying is less visible than physical bullying. It occurs on digital devices like smartphones and computers, which often makes it harder for adults to recognize when it is happening.

• Ongoing: Kids can be cyberbullied at any time since they often have access to technology throughout the day and night, not just during school. It can take place at home or while they are out in their community.

• Easier to Hurt Others: It's often simpler to be mean online because the bully doesn't see the victim's immediate reaction. The lack of physical presence may cause the bully to underestimate the emotional damage they are causing.

• Widespread Sharing: Hurtful information can spread quickly and widely on the internet. Once a negative message is posted, it's very difficult to prevent it from being shared.

• Permanent: Information posted online can be nearly impossible to erase. Once something is shared, it can remain accessible indefinitely, potentially reaching a large audience.

• Teach your child to be assertive but not aggressive. Being assertive means expressing oneself confidently and firmly while respecting others, whereas aggression involves forceful behavior that disregards the feelings or rights of others.

• If your child feels lonely, help them come up with ways where they can make new friends, maybe by getting involved with a school activity, brainstorming how they could initiate conversations, or considering opportunities for your child to interact with family friends or neighbors who have children of similar ages, facilitating potential friendships outside of school.

• Check in with your student regularly about how they are feeling about school, their relationships, academic pressures, activities, etc.. Encourage the use of specific emotion vocabulary to express themselves, as well as regulation strategies to manage heightened emotions.

• Try some of our recommended books to read and discuss as a family.