Signs of Bullying In School

Very often parents, teachers, and other concerned adults are unable to react to bullying in school because children are afraid to ask for help.  It is vital that we learn to recognize some of the more common signs displayed by bully victims. 

Learning to recognize the signs of bullying at school is vital, as often children do not wish to tell an adult of ask for help.  As we have discussed, often they are too afraid and have bought into the many myths that are associated with this kind of harassment.

There is not "all inclusive" list of signs to watch for since every targeted child may react to this harassment in their own unique way.  Research has shown that there are some common characteristics shared by many bullied children that may alert us to the fact the something is terribly wrong and it may involve some type of bullying.

A child may exhibit one or more of the following kinds of behavior:

-be afraid of walking to and from school
-suddenly change their usual school route
-avoid riding the school bus
-insist on a parent driving them to school and picking them up
-refusing to go to school
-complain of illness on most school mornings
-start to skip school
-exhibit poor performance on school work and grades
-arrive home with clothing and books ruined
-unexplained hunger after school (if lunch money being taken)
-showing signs of a lack of self confidence and becoming withdrawn
-showing signs of depression, nervous, lack of appetite
-talk about suicide or even attempt suicide in extreme cases
-have nightmares and crying themselves to sleep
-unable to account for missing possessions
-needing sums of money for school or even stealing money for school
-keep "losing" money for school supplies or lunches
-upset but refuse to tell what is wrong
-arrive home with unexplained cuts and bruises
-begin to display aggressive behavior toward other children
-become defiant and hostile to offers of help
-have few friends and little interest in social activities

A few words of caution about the list above.  If you identify one, or even a few of the above signs in your child, this does not automatically mean they are victims of school bullying.  Instead this is your "early warning" that something may be wrong and you need to closely monitor the situation and try to find out more information about what may be causing this behavior. If however you are confident that your child is a victim of bullying in school, there are some very important ways of supporting the school bullied child that you must implement immediately.