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How to Know if a Student is Being Bullied

If you notice a behavior change, you may want to talk to the child to see if there is anything wrong. For example, if a child is normally out-going and willing to participate one day and then all of a sudden they're quiet and afraid to raise their hand. Or, a calm child becomes loud and obnoxious. If this happens, you may want to talk to the child to see if someone is bullying them. Unfortunately when you ask the student if there is a problem he/she may not give you a truthful answer so it is ery important that you recognize warning signs.

Here are a list of warning signs:

Child is sick from school more than usual
Child stops wanting to participate in classroom activities
Child's school work becomes sloppy
Child's grades unexplainably drop
Child starts coming to school with torn clothing
Child is afraid to board the bus or walk home from school
Child is afraid to go out on the playgorund
Child wants to go home for lunch

By keeping a watchful eye you can help to prevent serious emotional and physical damage.

How Do You Spot A Bully?

Unlike the movies and television shows that dress the bullies up in leather jackets, greased hair, and tattoos with a mean look on their face, real life bullies many not resemble any of these characters. The truth is a bully can be tall, large, small, smart, average, muscular, thin, not so smart, not so muscular, small, young old. The one thing that all bullies have in common is that they like to be the boss or the leader. You can tell they are bullies when they are trying to drain the self-esteem of others so they can make themselves look and feel better.

Here is a list of things to look for in your classroom, in the hallway, on the playground or at home:

If one child is pushing another child
If one child is making fun of the way another child looks
If one child is always talking negatively about another student or students
If there are conversations going on between children leaving one or more out of the group
If you see students on the playground grouping together in a circle
If a student reacts violently toward you or another student
If you see that students seem to be intimidated by another student
If you see a repeated and consistent negative action towards another student
There is an imbalance of power between an alleged bully and the targeted student

Remember that all students, staff and parents have the power to put an end to a conflicting situation before it escalates in a negative physical or emotional situation.