Bullying
Bullying
If your child is being bullied, don't panic. Your key role is listening, calming and providing reassurance that the situation can get better when action is taken.
Schools in England have a legal duty to ensure the safety of all children and young people and to prevent all forms of bullying.
Kidscape have resources for dealing with bullying, including a log for parents to record incidents of bullying and contact with the school
Most of the time schools are willing and able to manage concerns about bullying but sometimes children and their parents and carers feel that the school are not listening and that they need to take further action.
If you feel you need to make a complaint, you should follow the school's complaints procedure. The Anti-Bullying Alliance have created guidance about how to make a complaint.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is bullying that is carried out via digital technology. It includes:
- Sending threatening or abusive text messages
- Creating and sharing embarrassing images or videos
- 'Trolling', the act of sending menacing or upsetting messages on social networks
- Chat rooms or online games
- Excluding children from online games, activities or friendship groups
- Setting up hate sites or groups about a particular child
- Encouraging young people to self-harm
- Voting for or against someone in an abusive poll
- Creating fake accounts
- Hijacking or stealing online identities to embarrass a young person or cause trouble using their name
- Sending explicit messages, also known as sexting
- Reassuring children into sending sexual images or engaging in sexual conversations
Spotting the signs of cyberbullying
It can be very difficult to spot the signs that a child is being cyberbullied. No individual sign will confirm that bullying is happening. Parents and professionals need to look out for signs such as:
- Changes in behaviour
- Becoming distressed or withdrawn
- Not wanting to go to school
- Sleeping or eating poorly
- Being secretive about use of their phone or tablet
- Having problems with friends
How to help
Cyberbullying, as with all bullying, can lead to mental health issues. If this seems to be the case, the young person should be seen by their GP.
Try to help young people by talking to them about cyberbullying and make sure they know who to go to if they have problems. If they do have a problem, talk to them about what choices they have in dealing with the cyberbullying.
The issue should usually be raised with the school (or other organisation) involved in the bullying. The young person may need some technical assistance to block bullies online or to make their accounts private. In addition, evidence of the bullying may need to be saved, for example as screenshots, or logs made to provide evidence.
Parents can also encourage the child to do activities they enjoy which can help build confidence, self-esteem and friendships.
Parents need to be aware of the further action that may be required if the school or organisation’s response is not satisfactory. This will vary depending on whether the school is a maintained (local authority) school, academy or private/independent school.
