Bullying can be an awful experience for a child. It can cause them to feel unsafe and unable to trust people.
Bullying can also affect the way a child learns, eats and sleeps. It can cause intense stress which can affect their body and mind.
If you think your child is being bullied, it is important to get help as soon as possible.
You should contact your child’s school or call the local council to report the bullying.
If you are worried about your child, here are some signs of bullying to look out for:
- Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem
- Changes in sleep patterns
- Changes in eating patterns
- Unexplainable injuries
- Frequent tears or anger
- Mood swings
- Feels ill in the morning
- Becomes aggressive and unreasonable
- Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school
- Refuses to talk about what is wrong
- Has unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches
- Comes home with missing or damaged belongings or clothes
- Comes home hungry.
If you suspect your child may be getting bullied you should contact the school at the earliest opportunity, as bullying problems can sometimes be resolved with guidance from staff. Don’t leave it too long – you need act sooner rather than later.
If you are after more information on bullying then check out the resources at stopbullying.gov, Otherwise, why not have a look at another school-aged related topics on SqueakyLocker!