Bullying at school and online: Tips for parents to prevent bully behaviour
“Bullying tends to go unnoticed by adults until it escalates significantly but parents can educate themselves in helping to prevent or detect it.“
By Maria Sarina, Coordinator of Counselling, Australian Christian College Marsden Park
We often hear the term ‘bullying’ and tend to know it when we see it, but what does it mean?
Various Australian organisations including the Human Rights Commission define bullying as any intentional and repeated behaviour which causes physical, emotional or social harm to a person who has, or is perceived to have, less power than the person who bullies.
There are various forms of physical and emotional bullying, which are essential for teachers and parents to be aware of. These include:
- Physical
- Verbal
- Social
- Cyber / online
- Emotional & psychological
- Coercive control (NB. This is a newer phenomenon however very present in school contexts)
Though schools condemn bullying, discrimination, harassment and abuse, statistics and real-life experiences remind us that these harmful actions are still prevalent in the classrooms and hallways.
So how do we recognise this harmful behaviour and work towards preventing it?
How educators can prevent bullying in schools
Each school community is tasked with establishing a culture that actively adopts strategies and implements measures to prevent harm to its students.
Through a child’s school journey, this might look like honest and frank enrolment interviews that address bullying, new student inductions that clearly delineate between acceptable and unacceptable behaviours, annual reminders for all students of community expectations, and ongoing education and training for staff.
How parents can help their child deal with bullies
Bullying tends to go unnoticed by adults until it escalates significantly but parents can educate themselves in helping to prevent or detect it. There are several proactive steps you can take to support your child and address bullying effectively:
Open communication: Maintain open and honest communication with your child. Encourage them to share their experiences and feelings, and assure them that you’re there to listen and support.
Recognise the signs: Be vigilant about any changes in your child’s behaviour, mood, or demeanour. Sudden shifts in their attitude, reluctance to go to school, or unexplained injuries could indicate bullying.
Educate your child: Teach your child about what bullying is, how to identify it, and the importance of reporting any incidents. Ensure they understand that bullying is not their fault.
Build confidence: Help your child develop confidence and resilience. Encourage them to engage in activities they enjoy and excel in, which can boost their self-esteem.
Encourage friendships: Foster healthy friendships that can provide emotional support and a sense of belonging. Encourage your child to interact with peers who treat them with kindness and respect.
Establish trust: Make sure your child feels comfortable discussing their concerns with you. Avoid judgement and create an environment where they can share their experiences openly.
Manage your reactions and gather accurate information: It’s normal to feel emotional upon learning that your child has been involved in bullying, whether as a victim or a perpetrator. To best support your child, maintain a calm demeanour, actively listen to those involved, take time to digest the information before reacting, and approach discussions with your child’s school with an open mind.
Contact the school: If you suspect bullying, reach out to your child’s school to discuss the situation with teachers, counsellors, or chaplains. Collaborate on effective strategies to address the issue.
Document incidents: Keep a record of any incidents, including dates, times, locations, and details of what happened. This information can be useful when discussing the situation with your child’s school.
Teach assertiveness: Help your child develop skills to stand up for themselves without escalating conflicts.
Monitor online activity: If your child uses social media or other online platforms, ensure you’re aware of their online interactions and provide guidance on safe internet use.
Seek professional help: If your child’s well-being is significantly impacted, consider seeking support from a counsellor, therapist, or psychologist who specialises in bullying and child behaviour.
Engage with the school: Attend parent-teacher conferences, school events, and workshops related to bullying prevention. This involvement shows your commitment to creating a safe school environment.
Lead by example: share with your children your experiences, how it was managed/mismanaged for you, how you have been able to learn from that experience and the actions that need to be taken without shame, fear or guilt.
Remember, your support can make a significant difference in your child’s well-being. By staying informed, communicating openly, and taking proactive steps, you can empower your child to navigate bullying challenges with resilience and confidence.
Resources for parents on bullying
There are a number of widely available Australian resources providing valuable advice to parents. Organisations like Bullying. No Way! offer comprehensive resources for parents, educators, and students to address and prevent bullying.
Families are encouraged to reach out to the Kids Helpline, Australia’s national 24/7 telephone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.
Similarly, the Parentline offers confidential telephone counselling service for parents and carers.
At Australian Christian College, our core mission revolves around investing in student well-being to ensure that each student is deeply understood and cherished. This deep-rooted commitment to caring for students drives ACC to continually implement effective anti-bullying strategies that seamlessly align with state policies and campaigns.
Bullying is not a new phenomenon, but its manifestation in the digital age has given it new dimensions. At the heart of the issue lies the emotional well-being of our children. Bullying can lead to lasting psychological scars, hampering a child’s confidence, self-esteem, and overall mental health.
Snapchat launch new safety features to prevent online bulllying
Snapchat, the visual messaging app used by 8 million Australians every month, has released a suite of new safety product features to further protect young people from online harms. The new tools focus on strengthening safeguards against sextortion and bullying and include expanded in-chat warnings, enhanced friending protections, blocking improvements, and simplified location-sharing.
The new Snapchat safeguards announced in June, 2024 include:
Expanded in-app warnings: In November 2023, Snapchat introduced a pop-up warning when a teen receives a message from someone they don’t already share mutual friends with or have in their contacts. The message informs teens of potential risk so they can carefully consider if they want to be in contact, and reminds them to only connect with people they trust. Since launch, this feature has empowered millions of Snapchatters to take action, leading to more than 12 million blocks.
Snapchat has now expanded these in-app warnings to incorporate new and advanced signals. Teens will now see a warning message if they receive a chat from someone who has been blocked or reported by others, or is from a region where the teenager’s network isn’t typically located – signs that the person may be a scammer.
Enhanced friending protections: While teens are currently not suggested in Quick Add or Search unless they have multiple mutual connections with the other person, Snapchat is now adding new friending safeguards that, coupled with the expanded in-app warnings, make it much harder for strangers to find and add teens.
Snapchat will prevent delivery of a friend request altogether when teens send or receive a friend request from someone they don’t have mutual friends with, and that person also has a history of accessing Snapchat in locations often associated with scamming activity. This applies regardless of whether the friend request was sent out by a teen, or sent to a teen from a potential bad actor.
Taken together, these two updates continue Snapchat’s work to address the growing trend of sophisticated sextortion scams, where criminals are typically located outside of Australia.
Blocking improvements: The platform has long offered tools for Snapchatters to easily block someone if they no longer wish to be in touch with them. Sometimes, bad actors create new accounts and continue to try to contact people who have blocked them. To prevent bullying and potential repeat harassment, Snapchat is introducing improvements to their blocking tools: blocking a user will also now also block new friend requests sent from other accounts created on the same device.
Simplified location-sharing and additional reminders: All Snapchatters, including teens, are sent regular reminders to check their account security and privacy settings, and only allow Snapchatters to share their location with friends. Now Snapchat is introducing more frequent reminders to make sure that Snapchatters are always up to date on which friends they’re sharing their location with on the Snap Map. The platform is also introducing simplified location-sharing, making it easier for Snapchatters to customise which of their friends can see their location. With these updates, Snapchatters have a single destination to see exactly which friends they are sharing their location with, update their location settings, and remove their location from the map.
As always, location sharing on the Snap Map remains off by default, meaning that Snapchatters have to proactively opt in to share where they are. And Snapchatters can only ever share their whereabouts with their existing Snapchat friends – there is no option to broadcast their location to the wider Snapchat community.
These new tools build on the platform’s ongoing work to further enhance safety for teens using Snapchat.
