Bullying

You should speak to your child's teacher to start with to let them know of the situation and what your child has told you. It is important to remain calm but firm when approaching the subject.

Ask the teacher at school if they have noticed any changes in your child's behaviour, as bullied children are often withdrawn and quiet which can affect their overall school performance.

The school will have policy in place for dealing with bullying and the teachers will have experience in dealing with such, therefore they should be able to suggest the best course of action. The websites listed in Related Information offer help and support for parents and children about the best way to approach bullying.

If you think that your child is bullying someone, you should speak to your child calmly and carefully about it.

You should also get in touch with anyone that could be involved in the situation, such as the school or their local club. This will allow the teachers / carers to assist in resolving any issues of bullying and to make ensure it does not happen again.
There may be underlying causes for the bullying and the websites listed in the Related Information section offer advice and help for both children and parents.

You should speak to the Head Teacher or Head of Year in this situation. It is important that this kind of incident is dealt with carefully but also professionally. The school will be able to advise on how to resolve the situation, measures could include observing lessons or if possible moving class to a different teacher. It may be worth speaking to your child about the bullying and how they would like the issue to be resolved.

Please see the websites in the Related Information section that offer specific advice in this situation.

The most important thing is to tell someone about the bullying. If you do not feel comfortable telling your parents, you may find it easier to talk to a teacher, friend or trusted adult. They will be able to talk things over with you and perhaps help you tell your parents. Once someone knows about the bullying, things can start to improve.

It is important the school is aware of what is happening, as they have a duty to ensure your safety and wellbeing whilst in their care.

Your teachers can help and support you and take immediate and appropriate action to make the situation better.

There are organisations that provide help and support and you can talk to specially trained counsellors about the problems you are having. They will offer you advice on what to do, who to tell and how to tell them. It is sometimes easier to talk to a stranger than a friend or your parents.

Childline 08001111 - available 24 hours a day
Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

Depending on the exact nature of the information and how they have posted it (Have they sent the information to someone else? Have they posted it via their own account? Who has access to the information?), an offence may have been committed.

The offence of harassment may apply. For harassment to be committed, there must be a 'course of conduct' (i.e. two or more related occurrences). The information does not necessarily have to be violent in nature but must be oppressive and need to have caused some alarm or distress. See Q497 for further information regarding this offence.

If the information is indecent, grossly offensive, obscene or threatening/menacing, then an offence relating to 'malicious communications' may have been committed. This offence does not require more than one incident. You can report any of these offences to your local policing team and they will then investigate and take appropriate action.

If the information posted does not fall under either of the above offences, then you may wish to consider whether the person has committed 'libel' (defamation of character - publishing a false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation). If this is the case, you would need to take action through the civil courts as this would be a civil matter and the police do not have any jurisdiction to assist with this. You should seek legal advice from the Citizens Advice and/or a solicitor before taking any action regarding this. Please see related information to find your local bureau.

In the first instance, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the information, you may wish to initially make a report to Facebook/Twitter (before contacting the police/Citizens Advice/a solicitor), as these sites have processes in place for such situations, and may be able to simply remove the content and/or close down the person's account.