Introduction			Our Initiatives			Take Action

Take Action

Bullying is a community issue, and it can only be prevented when the power of a community is brought together.

School staff can do a great deal to prevent bullying and protect students, but they can’t do it alone. Parents and youth also have a role to play in preventing bullying at school.

We recommend that parents:

• Talk to your child about respecting diversity of all including addressing sexual orientation and gender identity and name calling.
  
• Learn the procedures for reporting incidents of bullying and harassment.
  • DOE complaint procedures
  • Download complaint form
    
• If your child is being bullied:
  
  1. Be supportive and gather information about the bullying. Listen carefully to what your child tells you about the bullying.
     
     1. Do not encourage physical retaliation. For example: Do not say, "Just hit them back."
        
  2. Contact your child's teacher or principal.
     
     1. Emphasize you want to work with the staff at school in finding a solution.
        
  3. Help your child become more resilient to bullying.
     
     1. Help to develop your child's talents or positive attributes.
        
     2. Teach him or her how to seek help from an adult when feeling threatened by a bully.

Community-wide strategies can help identify and support children who are bullied, redirect the behavior of children who bully, and change the attitudes of adults and youth who tolerate bullying behaviors in peer groups, schools, and communities.

When parents and youth are involved in the solutions:

• Students feel safer and can focus on learning.
• Parents worry less.
• Teachers and staff can focus on their work.
• Schools can develop more responsive solutions because students are more likely to see or hear about bullying than adults.
• School climate improves because students are engaged in taking action to stop bullying.
• Parents can support schools’ messages about bullying at home. They are also more likely to recognize signs that a child has been bullied or is bullying others.

To learn more about bullying and how you can help, please visit www.Stopbullying.gov.