Anti-bullying tips

Anti-bullying tips

• When a child discloses bullying details, parents should remain calm as they gather facts about who, what and when the bullying took place. “It’s not helpful to school administrators if somebody says ‘so and so is bullying’ but can’t provide specifics,” University of Virginia education professor Dewey Cornell said.
• Gather evidence if possible, especially if bullying took place over the Internet, a website or cellphone. Try to get names of witnesses, too.
• Schools should have bullying prevention programs in place and be working to change the cultural norms such that reporting bullying isn’t akin to snitching — it’s seeking help for someone who’s being harmed.
• Parents should be persistent in raising their concerns about bullying. If the teacher doesn’t help, go to the administrator and on up the chain of command to the central office if necessary.
• Parents should try to be collaborative, not antagonistic, with the schools.
• Bullying, as defined by the federal government: Behavior must be aggressive and include an imbalance of power — such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity — to control or harm others. Bullying behaviors “happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.”
• For more information: stopbullying.gov