Bullying at school
If you think your child is being bullied by other pupils at his or her school you should speak to the school.
Reporting bullying at school
Every school has to have an anti-bullying policy which will tell you how you should report bullying and how the school investigates and tackles bullying. You should find each school’s anti-bullying policy and its behaviour policy on its website.
Some children and young people with learning needs, ASD or ADHD-type SEN or with mental disabilities are particularly vulnerable to bullying through sexting or other sexually exploitative and manipulative behaviour from peers. The school policy should acknowledge such vulnerable groups of pupils and describe the school’s specific safeguarding practice for these children and young people.
You can also ask the school to give you a copy of the policy.
How you can help your child if he or she is being bullied
If your child tells you that he or she is being bullied, you should:
- Reassure your child that he or she has done the right thing by telling you
- Make a note of everything your child tells you about the bullying
- Encourage your child to write things down when they happen
- Tell your child to report any further bullying to a teacher straight away
- Talk to your child's teacher and head teacher about the bullying.
You can get more advice on how to help your child from the Kidscape website and the Thinkuknow website.
If you are a child or young person who is being bullied
If you are a child or young person and you are being bullied at school you should tell a parent, teacher or another adult you trust. You do not have to put up with bullying.
You can find out what bullying is and advice on what you can do if you are being bullied on the Bullying UK website and you can chat about your worries online.
Outside school
Head teachers have the power to intervene in bullying that happens outside school. This can include:
- Bullying on Facebook, instant messenger or by email
- Sending bullying text messages
- Incidents on public transport or in the street if the bullies are in school uniform and can be identified.
School staff can report bullying to the police.
Phone 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
