What to Do If the Bullying Doesn’t Stop? #STOPBullying

October is coming to an end, which means Bullying Prevention Month is too, however, I have a couple more posts to share and I hope that they’ll help you or someone you know out, should they find themselves in a bullying situation. I encourage you to read the other posts in this series by clicking HERE for tips, help and other resources that are available to you.

Sadly, sometimes it’s hard to get bullying to stop. Some school districts aren’t very good at stopping it, often due to funding issues. And sometimes a bully lives in the neighborhood, and the bullying happens after school. In that case, you have to deal with the parents directly, and that can be even more difficult than dealing with a school.

Here are some tips on what to do if the bullying won’t stop;

* Contact the Teacher – If bullying happens at school, always contact your child’s teacher directly first. Don’t ever contact the parents in this case because it’s better for you and your child if the school deals with the issue instead of you. This can help defuse a situation and avoid more problems if the parents don’t act appropriately due to their child being a bully.

* Contact the Parents – If the bullying is happening in your neighborhood and not at school, you may need to notify the parents. The best thing to do is to try a calm approach at first. If you can get proof of the bullying behavior to show the parents, that will help. It’s not easy to hear that your child is doing something like this and today’s parents often will not listen to you. But it’s worth a try. Do stay calm and if they don’t respond appropriately, let them know you will go to the police or get a lawyer.

* Contact the PTA – If the teacher isn’t doing anything, contact the PTA and try to head up some anti-bullying training for the entire school. Often this way will work best for everyone. It doesn’t single out either your child or the bully. Instead, it provides information, education, and solutions to everyone to help curb bullying for everyone.

* Contact the School Board – If that doesn’t work, you may need to contact the school board to compel teachers to act and principals to provide the anti-bullying training district wide. This is a little harder to do but you have a right to attend these meetings and make it an issue.

* Contact a Lawyer – If all that fails, get a lawyer. You may be able to sue the school or the bully’s parents to force them to get the bully some help to stop the bullying. This may cause a lot of turmoil for your child, though, so think hard before you go in this direction.

* Contact the Press – In a particularly egregious case, you may want to talk to the press about the situation so that the district or parent are forced to do something about the bully. Sometimes just the fear of exposure will get things done.

* Call the Police – If the bullying is in any way violent, racist, or involves some form of discrimination that is prosecutable, call the police. Often that can get things moving in the right direction quickly when nothing else works.

* Protect Your Child – While you’re working to get things done and make a change, don’t force your child to be around the bully. It’s not fair that your child may have to stop going to school or may not be able to play outside in your neighborhood if the bully is nearby. But, the most important thing is to protect your child and let them know they’re loved and you don’t blame them.

* Get Counseling for Your Child – Many children who are bullied ruthlessly are at a higher risk of committing suicide, drug use, and other problems. Get help for your child; even when you cannot stop the bullying (or help the bully), put your child’s needs first and get counseling for them to help them improve their self-esteem.

Bullying can be very serious. Children have committed suicide due to the unbearable abuse that they put up with at the hands of a bully. Do whatever you can to remove your child from the situation, don’t force your child to have to live with the bullying if you can’t get it to stop by any method.