Tips for Teachers
Help Children Report Bullying
Encouraging children to report bullying to adults is a central goal of the STEPS TO RESPECT program and any successful bullying prevention strategy. Adults can have a positive impact on bullying when they become actively involved.
Your school can create an environment that encourages students to report bullying by using some of the following strategies.
- Create clear schoolwide and classroom rules about bullying and the consequences for bullying.
- Train all adults to take bullying reports. They should listen attentively to the report, take action as needed, and provide timely follow-up.
- Create an environment where students feel safe enough to report bullying and where they will be protected from retaliation.
- Have adults watch for bullying and take the initiative to respond as needed, even when children do not report it.
- Maintain the reporting student's confidentiality whenever possible.
- Create clear guidelines for coaching the student who has been bullied and the student who bullied.
- Have adults end interactions with reporting students with a clear mutual understanding of what the next course of action will be.
- Establish a coordinated system for tracking reports and communicating with other key adults, such as the counselor and principal, to ensure follow-through.
- Make sure parents understand the importance of reporting so that they will encourage their children to come forward or contact the school themselves.
After participating in the STEPS TO RESPECT program, students should feel more comfortable asking adults for help. They should also feel more confident about receiving help. By creating a climate that encourages reporting and training adults to take appropriate action, you'll be sending a message to students that bullying is taken seriously in your school.
By Peggy Careyand Callie Rivas
Program Implementation Specialists
Committee for Children