Bullying

Being bullied is a horrible experience and can happen at any age, even to adults. Being at home is no longer a safe place away from bullies due to social media, and a lot of bullying behaviour is online because it can be anonymous or at the very least not face-to-face. Bullies often pretend that their behaviour or comments are ‘just a joke’ or ‘banter’, but if it makes someone feel bad, then it’s not acceptable. Sometimes people feel bullied at home, by a family member.
We have collated some useful advice for parents and, if you’re a young person experiencing this, then scroll down to the second half of the page – we can help. Other useful pages might be self-esteem and anxiety.

For parents

Discovering your child is being bullied can be very upsetting and it is often tempting to try and take matters into your own hands and take immediate action. Before you do, have a look at the resources below which can help guide you on what to do next and how to talk to your child, their school/college or anyone else who might be involved. Bullying on social networks is also common – there is some good information on this below under cyberbullying and detailed information on the hazards of particular games and social platforms can be found in the internet and gaming section.

• Talking to your child about bullying
• Bullying at school, Resources for parents, including advice on moving schools, time off school and how to speak to the school
• What’s the difference between playground banter and serious bullying? (Relate) 
• Bullying resources for Parents from the Dove Self-esteem Project. Some great ideas, including the letter challenge
• Information on bullying for schools and parents also has the option of support by e-mail and a Helpline
• When does family banter become harmful?
• Bullying and what to do as a parent from MindEd. This takes you through a step-by-step approach and there is a video of Carol talking about her experiences as a mum of a child who was being bullied.