What To Do

If you think your child is being bullied then your first course of action should be to notify the school. Initially it is best to speak to the form teacher about the situation. If this is unsuccessful in bringing about a result, you can then refer the matter to the Head of Year and after that the Head Teacher. Other bodies can be contacted thereafter such as the Governors of the School, the Educational Body or indeed your local politician. It is important to take these steps in order.

It is obviously important that any broaching of the subject of bullying be done in a tactful and non-confrontational manner. This is easier said than done as many parents, learning their child is being intimidated, either physically or psychologically are upset, worried and anxious to get something positive done to remedy the situation.

Recently AAB has received reports from parents who have complained of bullying to their schools and yet been delighted by the swift and effective response of the teachers involved. The bullying not only ceased, but the children returned to a happy state of being and no reprisals to date have been reported.

Other situations however are not so easily dealt with. It is therefore important that the parent or carer involved makes notes of the ‘bullying incidences’ email us requesting a sample form to help you in this task. A log of incidents is sometimes helpful in identifying the pattern of bullying behaviour for yourself as well as authorities. It is also vital if the bullying continues and any legal steps have to be taken.

All text messages containing abuse should be copied and kept as a record. Also any physical evidence such as photographs of injuries, reports from medical authorities and dental records in the case of dental injury are valuable evidence in legal matters.

Some further advice:

When seeing the Head Teacher, make an appointment and dress formally. This will ensure that your matter is dealt with respectfully. If possible, both parents should attend a meeting.

Wherever possible make serious complaint in writing (dating correspondence) and ask for any action that is being taken to be put in writing also. If no letter is forthcoming in response to your meeting then write a letter setting out the points that were discussed as a record of what was agreed, keeping a copy for your own records.

Only when all these steps have been followed and produced no satisfactory results (i.e. bullying continuing) can legal action be initiated against a school. This is a lengthy and unpleasant as well as costly course of events and should only be considered as a last resort.

The main objective in preventative bullying measures and securing the protection of the victim is to bring an end to the bullying behaviour.There are a plethora of different ways to approach this bearing in mind the following:

Bullies rarely apologise, but do repeat their pattern of behaviour over time
Schools are anxious for a speedy truce in bullying matters
Friends of victims can be intimidated also.

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Act Against Bullying is a UK Registered Charity No 1100132
P O Box 57962 London W4 2TG Tel: (44) 208 995 9500
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