Partners Resource Network has gathered together a variety of resources available online about bullying. These resources include fact sheets, web sites, articles, and more. The online resources follow some frequently asked questions (faq's) pertaining to bullying and your child's rights.

If you have questions about bullying or need help with issues related to education, please contact your PATH, PEN, or TEAM Regional Coordinator. To find your Regional Coordinator, check our Texas PTI Map or call us at 1-800-866-4726..

Frequently Asked Questions About Bullying

1. What is bullying?

“A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative acts on the part of one or more other students. It is a negative action when someone intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another,” says Dan Olweus, a prominent researcher on bullying behaviors. Bullying may involve physical aggression such as fighting, shoving, or kicking; verbal aggression such as name calling; or more subtle acts such as socially isolating another child. With the increase in numbers of personal computers at home, youth have also learned to use email and web sites to bully or harass others.

To learn more about bullying and how to identify if your child is the victim of bullying, try these resources:

• Bullying Among Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Needs*
  
  
• Bullying Among Children and Youth - MS Power Point
  
  
• Bullying Fast Facts - HTML or PDF*
  
  
• Common Views About Bullying*
  
  
• Myths about Bullying*
  
  
• Talk with Your Child about Bullying*
  
  
• Warning Signs that a Child is Being Bullied*
  
  
• What Every Kid Needs to Know About Bullying - HTML or PDF*
  
  
• What to Do if Your Child is Being Bullied*
  
  
• What if Your Child IS the Bully?*
  
  
• What Should I Do if I'm Bullied?*

2. What are the signs that my child is being bullied at school?

If your child is the victim of bullying, he or she may display one or more of these behaviors at home:

• Comes home from school with clothing that’s torn or in disarray, or with damaged books.
  
  
• Has bruises, cuts, and scratches, but can’t give a logical explanation for how he got them.
  
  
• Appears afraid or reluctant to go to school in the morning, complaining repeatedly of headaches or stomach pains.
  
  
• Chooses an “illogical” route for going to and from school.
  
  
• Has bad dreams or cries in his sleep.
  
  
• Loses interest in school work, and his grades suffer. If your child normally struggles in school because of a learning disability and is teased about having LD, school may become unbearable for him.
  
  
• Appears sad or depressed, or shows unexpected mood shifts, irritability, and sudden outbursts of temper.
  
  
• Requests money from you to meet the bully’s demands and might even resort to stealing money from you or other family members.
  
  
• Seems socially isolated, with few — if any — real friends; is rarely invited to parties or to the homes of other kids. His fear of rejection may lead him to shun others.

3. What can the parents of the victim do?

If you know or suspect your child is being bullied, but his school hasn’t communicated with you about the situation, you should contact your child’s teacher(s) right away. Keep in mind that your primary goal should be to get the school’s cooperation to get the bullying to stop. Knowing your own child is being victimized can evoke strong feelings, but you’ll get much more cooperation from school personnel if you can stick to the facts without becoming overly emotional.

If your child has been the victim of bullying at school, here are some suggestions for reporting the problem to school authorities:

• After talking to your child, but before contacting school personnel, write down the details of the bullying situations reported to you by your child. Note the dates and the names of the kids involved. Try to view the situation objectively and determine the how serious it is.
  
  
• Your child may resist your involvement if he fears retaliation by the bully. If so, explain to your child that most bullying situations require adult intervention to resolve the problem. Let him know exactly who you plan to talk to.
  
  
• Contact school personnel for assistance in ending the bullying. First share the problem with your child’s teacher(s), and work together to decide how to approach the problem. If the teacher isn’t able to get the bullying under control, go to the principal and make a formal request in writing that he get the bullying to stop.
  
  
• Do not contact the bully or the bully’s family directly.
  
  
• Keep an ongoing log of the dates of any further bullying incidents and the actions you take to help your child deal with the bullying. Inform the school of ongoing bullying incidents.

For more information about bullying and your child's school, try these resources:

• Bullying - Notifying School Administrators of Harassment Concerns*
  
  
• How to Talk with Educators at Your Child's School about Bullying: Tips for Parents of Bullied Children*
  
  
• The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and Bullying*
  
  
• Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crimes-A Guide for Schools*
  
  
• Record Keeping and Bullying*

4. What can — and should — parents expect the school to do?

Whether your child is a bully, victim, or bystander, you should expect the following from his school:

• School administrators, teachers, and staff should take bullying problems seriously. The school should investigate the situation and let you know what steps they’re taking to help stop the bullying.
  
  
• Written school policies and rules against bullying, harassment, and intimidation should be in place — and be enforced.
  
  
• Teachers and administrators should speak to the bully and his parents. They should also tell him what the consequences will be if he doesn’t stop bullying others. If the bullying continues, the school should enforce the pre-determined consequences immediately.
  
  
• Teachers and administrators should increase adult supervision in the areas of the school campus where bullying incidents are most likely to occur.
  
  
• School personnel should be well-informed about the children who are being victimized by bullies so they can monitor and provide support to the victims as needed. They should also communicate often with the victims’ parents to tell them how the situation is being handled at school.

Finally, be aware that bullying prevention programs in schools are often a very effective way to stop bullying.

For more information about bullying prevention, try these resources:

• Best Practices in Bullying Prevention and Intervention*
  
  
• Your Three-Step Plan to Stop Bullying - HTML or PDF*

Web sites

PacerKidsAgainstBullying.org
http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org
Web site features lesson plans and materials for teachers, resources for parents, and interactive activities to teach second through sixth graders about bullying and how to prevent it.

Stop Bullying Now
http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) web site is a great resource of information for children and parents about bullying, prevention, and intervention. Some of the resources available are fact sheets, online games, webisodes, and more.