Bullying

Possible Signs of Bullying  A child may indicate by their behavior that he or she is being bullied. If your child shows some of the following signs, bullying may be responsible and you might want to ask if someone is bullying or threatening them.

Children may:

• be frightened of walking to and from school

• change their usual route

• not want you to go on the school bus

• beg you to drive them to school

• be unwilling to go to school (or be 'school phobic')

• feel ill in the mornings

• begin truanting

• begin doing poorly in their school work

• come home regularly with clothes or books destroyed

• come home starving (bully taking dinner money)

• become withdrawn, start stammering, lack confidence

• become distressed and anxious, stop eating

• attempt or threaten suicide

• cry themselves to sleep, have nightmares

• have their possessions go missing

• ask for money or start stealing (to pay the bully)

• continually 'lose' their pocket money

• refuse to talk about what's wrong

• have unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches

• begin to bully other children, siblings

• become aggressive and unreasonable

• give improbable excuses for any of the above

Credit given to: http://www.kidscape.org.uk/parents/signsof.shtml

Signs That A Child May Be A Victim of Cyberbullying   Although psychologically painful, children who are bullied are not likely to seek help from an authority figure. In addition, cyberbullies benefit from the anonymity that the internet provides. Cyberbullies always know their target, but the target may not always be able to identify the bully. This added aspect makes the victim even less likely to seek guidance because they cannot pinpoint the direct source. These two interacting elements make it very difficult for family, friends, and others to recognize if a child is a victim of cyberbullying.

Here are some early signs (courtesy of www.cyberbullying.org) that a child may be a victim of cyberbullying:

• Long hours on the computer

• Closes windows on their computer when you enter room

• Is secretive about Internet activities

• Behavioral changes

• Is always doing homework on the Internet, but always in chat groups and getting behind with school work

• May find unexplained long distance telephone call charges

• Won't say who they are talking to

• May find unexplained pictures on computer

• Trouble sleeping

• Stomach and headaches

• Lack of appetite, throwing up

• Fear of going to out of the house

• Crying for no apparent reason

• Lack of interest at social events that include other students

• Complains of illness before school or community events often

• Frequent visits to the school nurse or office complaining of feeling sick - wants to call Mom or Dad to come & get them

• Lowered self-esteem

• A marked change in attitude, dress or habits

• Unexplained broken personal possessions, loss of money, loss of personal items

• Stories that don't seem to make sense

• Acting out aggression at home

• Missing or incomplete school work, decreased success in class

Credit given to: http://www.cyberbullying.ca