Gather information. It is important to gather supporting documentation from not only your student but from the student's teachers and the peers. What specific bullying behaviors have occurred? When did these behaviors happen? Were the incidents open bullying, such as degrading the student in front of other students in the hall during class changes? Or, were the incidents in the principal's office when it was just the child, the principal and the observing adult?
Identify bullying behavior. Exactly what is the bullying behavior? Common bullying practices from a principal against a student include: verbal degradation or abuse in front of peers; inappropriate and unbalanced application of discipline; excluding the child from activities or inappropriate contact with the child outside of school hours.
Approach the principal. The parents of children are the unquestioned experts of the children. In other words, if parents feel something is wrong, it usually is and parents should not be fearful of approaching a principal. Principals are employees of the school district and parent's taxes or other payments support the principal's employment.
Parents should take a confident air with an objective of problem solving. Parents need to present specific behaviors which have been noted and confirmed through the student's peers or teachers. Principals should be questioned about each incident and asked what the student had done to deserve this.
For example, "Dr. Barnes, on Friday, March 1, during the class change you said to Andrew, 'You are always so slow. Everybody let's change Andrew's name to Mr. Slow,' in front of his English teacher and three peers. Please tell us why you said this."
Demand the bullying stop. Once incidents have been reviewed, the parents need to make it very clear to the principal that the behavior will not be tolerated. They should also notify the school superintendent responsible for the school district of the complaints and share with the superintendent the principal's behavior. The principal should be told directly the superintendent has been made aware of the situation and the parents will present future problems directly with the superintendent.
Follow up. After a month, parents need to follow up with the student to see if the principal's behavior has changed. If bullying has continued or has increased, parents need to follow through with the superintendent. Parents can be assured the principal is essentially their employee and the school exists for the student; not for the comfort of the principal.