Bullying- National Crime Prevention Council

Tips

• Take complaints of bullying seriously. Do not dismiss your child or expect your child to work through the situation alone.

• Praise your child for reporting bullying situations to you and assure your child you will take action.

• Talk to your child’s teacher, counselor, or other caregiver about reports of bullying. Work together to address the bullying situation. Don’t confront the parents of the bully directly.

• Ask your child specific questions about how your child is treated by peers, who he or she eats lunch with, and how other children are treated.

• Teach your child to be assertive. Your child should be able to express feelings and needs clearly, without shouting or other aggressive behavior.

• Provide opportunities for your child to make friends. Identify some of your child’s interests and encourage your child to pursue them through sports, clubs, or other group activities.
• Teach your child to identify bullying behaviors. These include hitting, damaging possessions, threatening, name calling, excluding someone from the group, spreading rumors, and embarrassing others.

• Teach your child strategies for managing bullying. If bullied, your child can walk away, tell the bully to stop, avoid the bully, or tell and adult.

• If your child sees someone else being bullied, he or she can help the victim walk away, invite the victim over to play or eat lunch, tell the bully to stop picking on someone, or tell and adult.

• Tell your child that you do not tolerate bullying behavior. If you learn that your child has been bullying others, work with your child’s teacher, counselor, or other caregiver to end the bullying.

• Be a positive role model. Avoid using threats or aggression when disciplining your child or when interacting with other adults.