Learn to recognize all types of bullying and help your child to recognize them as well. There's physical, verbal and cyber bullying to look out for. Physical bullying is any type of physical violence or destruction of a child's property. Verbal bullying involves name-calling, slurs, spreading gossip and taunting other children. Cyber bullying is any form of harassment through emails, text messages, instant messages, websites, blogs or social networking posts.
Teach your child to watch for these signs of bullying against themselves and others in the classroom, and to immediately report any such bullying to an authority figure, such as yourself, the teacher or another faculty member.
Tell your child not to respond to bullying, to just walk away from the bullying when and if it occurs and immediately report it. You need to keep in contact with school officials about the bullying, to learn how it was handled and to find out if the bullying has continued.
Watch for signs of bullying in your classroom. A sign of bullying could be almost anything, from a student who fears coming to school or who complains often of illness in an attempt to go home, to a child who is teased by other members of the class. Don't mistake good-natured jokes from friends as bullying. It's easy to tell the difference -- if the subject of the jokes and the teasing does not think they're funny, does not joke or tease back or appears scared of those making the jokes and teasing. It's also easy to tell if the person making the jokes and teasing and the subject of the jokes and teasing are actually friends.
Speak to the child who you suspect is bullying another. State that you have noticed a pattern of behavior and that the bullying must stop or there will be consequences. Keep an eye on the child to see if the behavior changes or if it grows worse.
Speak to the student you suspect is being bullied. If the child denies the bullying but you have reason to suspect the child is not being honest with you, contact his other teachers to see if they've notice the same behavior.
Contact the parents of the child being bullied. Share your suspicions with the child's parents and see if they've noticed the same behavior. Together, you can confront the child and find out what is going on. At this point, you and the parents should notify school administrators so the school administrators can address the situation with the bully and the parents of the bully in an effort to end the bullying.