How can parents address bullying

Signs that may indicate that a child may be being bullied include missing belongings, unexplained injuries, and a limited number of friends. Symptoms experienced by victims of bullying may be physical, emotional, and behavioural. Examples of physical symptoms include those often associated with stress, such as headaches, stomach-aches, changes in appetite, bedwetting, dizziness, general aches and pains. Psychological symptoms often include irritability, anxiety, sadness, trouble sleeping, frequent nightmares, tiredness in the mornings, loneliness, helplessness, and feeling isolated. Victims of bullying may exhibit behavioural symptoms as well, including avoiding social situations, getting to school or work late, taking off more days, skipping school without telling parents, or even trying to retaliate against their tormentors. Their grades may decline and they may become self-destructive. For instance, running away from home, hurting themselves or contemplating suicide.

Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. It includes:

o        Teasing

o        Name-calling

o        Inappropriate sexual comments

o        Taunting

o        Threatening to cause harm

Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. It includes:

o        Leaving someone out on purpose

o        Telling other children not to be friends with someone

o        Spreading rumours about someone

o        Embarrassing someone in public

Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. It includes:

o        Hitting/kicking/pinching

o        Spitting

o        Tripping/pushing

o        Taking or breaking someone’s things

o        Making mean or rude hand gestures

How can I help prevent bullying in my child’s school?

The first step to keeping your child safe, whether in-person or online, is making sure they know the issue.

1. Educate your children about bullying. Once they know what bullying is, your children will be able to identify it more easily, whether it is happening to them or someone else.
2. Talk openly and frequently to your children. The more you talk to your children about bullying, the more comfortable they will be telling you if they see or experience it. Check in with your children daily and ask about their time at school and their activities online, inquiring not only about their classes and activities, but also about their feelings.
3. Help your child be a positive role model. There are three parties to bullying: the victim, the perpetrator, and the bystander. Even if children are not victims of bullying, they can prevent bullying by being inclusive, respectful and kind to their peers. If they witness bullying, they can stick up for the victim, offer support, and/or question bullying behaviours.
4. Help build your child’s self-confidence. Encourage your child to enrol in classes or join activities they love in your community. This will also help build confidence as well as a group of friends with shared interests.
5. Be a role model. Show your child how to treat other children and adults with kindness and respect by doing the same to the people around you, including speaking up when others are being mistreated. Children look to their parents as examples of how to behave, including what to post online.
6. Be part of their online experience. Familiarise yourself with the platforms your child uses, explain to your child how the online and the offline worlds are connected, and warn them about the different risks they’ll face online.

Bullying can be associated with significantly serious problems. Teens who bully are at greater risk for engaging in delinquent behaviours, including vandalism, as well as violence inside and outside of school. They are also at risk of substance abuse and dropping out of school. Victims of these behaviours also tend to develop or increase their severity of anxiety. Bullies and victims tend to experience depression more than their peers who have not been involved in bullying, which can lead to academic problems, frequent absences from school, loneliness, and social isolation. Research shows that bullies and their victims are also at risk for having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). People who were bullied as children are at risk for having less of a supportive social network during adulthood, and those who were bullies/victims during childhood may have poorer physical and financial health, more antisocial behaviour, and be more likely to become a young parent compared to bullies who have never been the victim of bullying.

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