My child is being bullied

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​an empty school hallway

Accept the bullying incident seriously and know that your kid'south schoolhouse will too.

Stay calm and positive

It can be upsetting when your child is being bullied. Focus on identifying a solution with your kid. A confident, positive and resilient advent tin can stop bullying from standing. Information technology might be helpful to draw on your own networks to go back up for yourself while you are helping your kid.

Talk with the school

You practise not demand to ask your child's permission to talk to the school. Understandably, children who are being bullied are oft fearful and worry that any activity will worsen the problem. The solution is to make a parental conclusion to talk to the school.

A consistent and co-operative arroyo by both the habitation and school is important. You can always permit your child know later on what actions you take taken. Let the schoolhouse take responsibility for helping students who are bullying to change their ways.

Keep your kid safe

You should contact the schoolhouse immediately if your kid's safety is at risk.

Talk with your child

Encourage your kid to talk about what happened. If they desire to try to deal with the bullying themselves, discuss these strategies and set up a short catamenia of time to see if they can resolve the situation. Tell your child that reporting the bullying is okay. Assure your child that information technology is not their fault.

Encourage your kid to:

  • attempt to human action unimpressed or unaffected
  • use other strategies to lengthened the situation (eastward.g. agreeing in an offhand manner with the bullying when they say offensive or negative things - this is known as fogging)
  • say 'No!' firmly
  • talk to the instructor or another staff fellow member, e.g. school guidance officer
  • act confidently even when they don't feel it.

Practise some strategies at home with your child to help them to:

  • stand and walk in a way that appears more confident
  • give a quick answer to surprise or disarm the other child
  • utilise a routine response (due east.one thousand. okay, whatever) that implies that the child is non bothered.

Talk nearly what we know doesn't work with bullying:

  • fighting back
  • bullying the bully
  • ignoring it
  • playing with a different grouping of friends
  • remaining silent nigh the problem.

Talk to your child about the tips and advice offered on the pupil department of this website.

Give them the Kids Helpline phone number 1800 55 1800 to use if they ask to talk to someone other than the school, or you lot don't feel able to support them.

Say no to fighting

Practise non suggest your kid to fight with the other child. Fighting (every bit singled-out from defending themselves from a concrete attack) with the other child tin can escalate the situation and your kid may be reprimanded for their role in a fight.

Seek assist for your child

Seek assistance for your child to recover from and understand the bullying incidents and give them the risk to improve their social skills. A child who has been bullied tin exist at greater take a chance than others of being bullied again (even when the bullying has been dealt with). Knowing how to deal with bullying and hard people non just at schoolhouse but throughout life in social situations and at work is a bones life survival skill.

My child is being racially bullied

Our schools are committed to ensuring students from all backgrounds feel safety and connected at school and are able to achieve their all-time.

​​Racist bullying

Racist bullying occurs when someone is put-down, teased, intimidated or shamed considering of their:

  • physical appearance
  • ethnic groundwork
  • religious or cultural practices
  • the way they talk or dress.

Racist bullying tin can be anything from coincidental only hurtful remarks, to deliberate physical and verbal attacks.

Unfortunately, racist bullying continues to occur in our school communities.​

A 2014 Australian study found that:

  • Over a third of students reported direct experiences of racism at school at least once a month
  • Over a 5th of students experienced at least one form of direct racism every mean solar day. The almost common experience was being told they 'didn't vest in Australia' past another student
  • Over 65 percent of students reported seeing another student being chosen names or being teased because of their cultural background.

Impacts

Racist bullying can impact the:

  • student experiencing racist bullying and their sense of belonging to the school community
  • students witnessing this course of bullying
  • parents and families of children who are experiencing racist bullying
  • wider schoolhouse customs and school culture.

At an individual level, racist bullying can accept long-term negative furnishings on:

  • students' concrete and mental wellness
  • school attendance
  • educational attainment.​

Preventing racist bullying

For all students to feel connected, protected and respected, schools demand to:

  • build a civilisation that is inclusive
  • value diversity
  • non tolerate racist bullying.​

There are a range of things a school can do forbid bullying. These include:

  • having a bullying prevention policy
  • staff, students and parents working together
  • looking at school policies to make sure they are clear and well understood
  • building a classroom environment that is welcoming
  • edifice up the skills of all school staff
  • using a range of different programs and strategies to accost and prevent bullying.

For more than data, see these fact sheets:

At that place is more information and resources almost bullying on Slap-up Stoppers.

For more information about how upstanders can help prevent bullying, see I have your back​.

If yous want more information about what to do if your kid is experiencing bullying, this page may be helpful:Bullying. No Way! – How parents and carers can reply.

More information

For more than information, see: