Dealing with Bullies

Parents often find it very challenging and frustrating to know how to react when their child comes home from school and reports a bullying incident to them. Bullying is another name for harassment. Bullying can be physical with one or more students hurting another. More often, bullying is verbal and includes persistent threatening behavior, teasing, ridicule, or gossiping. Children find it pretty tough to stop bullying without some support.

At CRMS all our students are exposed to the Olweus Bullying Prevention program that is handled through our advisory program that meets every Thursday am. Our school rules for bullying are:

1. We will not bully others.
2. We will try to help others who are bullied.
3. We will try to include students who are left out.
4. If we know that someone is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.

What should parents do when their child is being bullied:

1. Focus on your child. Do not ignore the bullying or tell your child to ignore it.
2. Don’t blame your child for the bullying. Nobody deserves to be bullied.
3. Listen carefully to what your child tells you about the bullying. Attempt to get details about the incident that include with who, when, and where the incident occurred, and if there were any witnesses.
4. Stress to your child that bullying is wrong and not their fault. Applaud your child for having the courage to report the incident. Explain what you are going to do to help him or her.
5. If you disagree with how your child handled the bullying, do not criticize him or her.
6. Do not tell your child to fight back. This could make the matter worse and lead to discipline issues at school.
7. Control your emotions. Let some time elapse before deciding what to do.
8. Talk to your child’s teacher or contact the MS office at 839-4195 to report incidents of bullying to Mr. Black or Mr. Shoemaker.