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Anti-Bullying Resources
Anti-Bullying Resources
What is bullying?
What are the possible warning signs of bullying?
Warning signs for parents may include, but are not limited to, when your child:
- Comes home with damaged or missing clothing or other belongings
- Reports losing items such as books, electronics, clothing, or jewelry
- Has unexplained injuries
- Complains frequently of headaches, stomach-aches, or feeling sick
- Has trouble sleeping or has frequent bad dreams
- Has changes in eating habits
- Hurts himself or herself
- Is very hungry after school from not eating their lunch
- Runs away from home
- Loses interest in visiting or talking with friends
- Is afraid of going to school or other activities with peers
- Loses interest in school work or begins to do poorly in school
- Appears sad, moody, angry, anxious or depressed when they come home
- Talks about suicide
- Feels helpless
- Often feels like they are not good enough
- Blames themselves for their problems
- Suddenly has fewer friends
- Avoids certain places
- Acts differently
If you suspect your child is involved in bullying behavior, please consider the following:
- Discuss your concerns with your child
- Determine if your child has been having any particular problems with other children
- Assess if your child is experiencing difficulties in other areas
- Assist your child in understanding the serious nature and consequences of bullying behavior
- Contact your child’s school if you need additional assistance and/or support
- Share your concerns with your child’s teacher or any other significant adult (YFS Coordinator, Guidance Counselor, Psychologist, teacher, coach, scout-leader etc.)
How can you help your child?
Give strategies for the target/victim:
- Ignore or walk away
- Assertively tell the person to stop and then walk away
- Warn that you will get help from an adult and then walk away
- Get help - clearly tell an adult what has happened
Offer support:
- Speak to your child privately. Learn about what’s been going on. Listen, get the facts and assess your child's feelings about the bullying. Is this the first time he or she has been hurt by bullying or is this something that has been going on for a while? Assure your child that it is not his or her fault.
- Praise your child for their courage to discuss bullying incidents with you. Explain how helpful they are being by providing this important information.
Cyberbullying
A Digital Footprint - Remember that YouTube, Facebook, and Smart Phones are instantaneous and last forever!
Did You Know?
- 93% of all children between 12-17 use the internet
- 32% of teens clear their browser history to hide information from their parents
- 16% of teens have created private emails and social network pages to hide information from their parents
- 20% of teens have engaged in cyberbullying
- 42% of parents do not review the content of their child’s internet access
- 30% of parents allow their children to use the computer in unsupervised areas
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- Sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images
- Posting sensitive, private information and/or lies about another person
- Pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad
- Intentionally excluding someone from an online group
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- Instant messaging
- Text
- Digital images
- Social network sites (Facebook, Club Penguin, Twitter, Oovoo, AIM)
- Web pages
- Blogs
- Chat rooms
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- Identity theft - fake profiles might be set up pretending to be an individual with the sole aim of bullying others
- Chat rooms, blogs and forums - although you are supposed to be at least 13 years of age, very few are monitored
- Pictures and photo sharing – videos of girls or boys dressing and undressing in the locker room, etc.
- Text messages and E-mails that are abusive or threatening
- Social media networks, such as Facebook, that post offensive messages about others
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- Encourage your child to talk about their friends and share their day
- Don’t overreact until you are sure about the situation
- Encourage your child to share any abusive or offensive material sent to them via the internet or phone
- Turn on safety features to ensure your family only receives messages from approved sources
- Remember it is important to help your child solve the problem, include them in the solution
- If the situation deems necessary, contact your local police department immediately
Related Sites
- Bullying
- CYBER TIPLINE/1-800-843-5678
- Cyberbullying research center
- Connect Safely- Smart Social media
- Onguard Online