Anti-bullying information

Everyone - staff, students, parents, caregivers, and community members - must work together to combat bullying. It can manifest as physical violence, verbal abuse, social exclusion, or cyberbullying through texts, emails, or social media posts.

Unlike occasional disputes or fights between equals, bullying involves a persistent pattern of behaviour.

Anyone can be a bully or a victim, and the effects can be long-lasting. Bullying often occurs in secrecy, making it hard for staff to detect.

If you suspect your child is being bullied, promptly inform the staff. Schools are committed to addressing and resolving these issues swiftly.

Physical bullying

This involves hitting, kicking, pinching, punching, scratching, spitting, or any physical attack. It also includes damaging or stealing belongings and is more common among boys

Verbal bullying

Name-calling, insults, racist, sexist, or homophobic jokes, sexually suggestive or abusive language, and offensive remarks are all forms of verbal bullying. It accounts for about 75% of all bullying.

Indirect bullying

This includes spreading rumours, social exclusion, malicious gossip, and sending abusive messages via mail, email, or text (cyberbullying). This form is more common among girls.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying uses technology like instant messaging, chat rooms, emails, webcams, social networks, virtual learning environments, and gaming sites.

Bullying can happen anywhere: in schools, homes, and communities.

In school, it might occur in playgrounds, corridors, or any unsupervised areas. Children can also be bullied on their way to and from school, on the bus, or even at home through digital means.

Bullying inflicts both physical and emotional harm, with long-term effects on a child’s educational, emotional, and social development, potentially lasting into adulthood. It could also include different elements of bullying behaviour simultaneously.

Some children might avoid school or become ill, while others may feel socially isolated and lonely. School performance can suffer, and over time, their self-esteem may decline, leading to depression or, in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts.

Witnessing bullying can also affect children, causing feelings of guilt for not intervening and fear of the bully. Research in Canada shows that bullying is most likely to stop when peers intervene. Encourage your child to take one of the following actions if they witness bullying:

• Inform an adult
• Tell an older student
• Encourage the victim to seek help
• Show disapproval of the bullying behaviour
• Walk away and ignore the bully
• Safely tell the bully to stop
• Rally a group of friends to help stop the bullying
• Form a supportive friendship group for the victim to prevent isolation

• Children's rights: Every child has the right to safety and should never be subjected to harm
• Unacceptability: Bullying behaviour is always unacceptable
• Vulnerability: Any child, regardless of age, can be a target of bullying
• Self-protection: Children need strategies to protect themselves and seek assistance
• Online bullying: Advise them to screenshot any online bullying and report it to a trusted adult
• School involvement: Contact the school immediately if you have any concerns about bullying

Children may not always communicate that they are being bullied, but they might exhibit certain behaviours such as:

• Running away from home
• Avoiding or refusing to attend school
• Displaying unexplained challenging behaviour or learning difficulties
• Having unexplained injuries
• Deleting messages and accounts on their devices and being secretive about their phone

• Immediate contact: Reach out to your child's school as soon as you notice any issues. Document the school's proposed actions
• Policy awareness: All schools must have an anti-bullying policy. Collaboration between parents and schools is crucial for the child's well-being
• Escalation: If dissatisfied with the school's response, follow the school's complaints procedure
• Contact information: School contact details are available on our Directory

• Reassurance: Let your child know you are there for them and listen to their concerns
• Encouragement: Urge them to confide in someone they trust, whether it is an adult or a peer supporter
• Coping strategies: Teach your child how to handle bullying situations
• Collaborative solutions: Discuss ways to resolve the problem together
• School meetings: Work with the school to develop a plan of action
• Documentation: Keep a record of bullying incidents and maintain a diary. Save screenshots of any online bullying

Children often face pressure to conform, which can lead to risky behaviours such as skipping school, substance abuse, shoplifting, joining gangs, or engaging in premature relationships.

• Report and block: Most apps and sites have features to report abuse and block bullies
• Inform the school: Notify the school of any cyberbullying, even if the bully attends a different school
• Police involvement: In severe cases, contact the police for assistance
• Resourceful websites: Visit the NSPCC website for guidance on keeping children safe online

Children might share explicit content without realizing the consequences, known as sexting. If under 18, this is illegal.

Online grooming involves older individuals coercing children to send explicit content.

• School and police: Report such incidents to your child's school and the police.
• Isolate the device: Preserve the device for potential police investigations.
• Support: Childline offers excellent resources and support for these situations. The National Crime Agency also provides a guide for parents on handling nude selfies.