By establishing a strong, positive relationships with adults and peers, bullied children can fee where they belong and stop blaming themselves for the bullying. In extreme cases, bullied children need support with post traumatic stress symptoms, even after the bullying has been stopped.

Source: www.ask.hrsa.gov

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But children need parents’ help to prevent and stop school bullying. Call the school as soon as possible if the parents see any bullying warnings signs.

1. If your child comes home with torn, damaged, or missing pieces of clothing, books, or other belongings;
2. Has unexplained cuts, bruises, and scratches when the child come home;
3. Complains frequently of headaches, stomachaches, or other physical issues;
4. Has trouble sleeping;
5. Shows a loss of appetite;
6. Appears anxious and suffers from low self-esteem,
7. does not have any friends or very few friends to play with;
8. Seems afraid of going to school, walking to and from school, riding the school bus, or taking part in organized activities with peers;
9. The child has no interest in school work or suddenly begins to do poorly in school;
10. When your child comes home appearing sad or moody.

Talk to your child if you see any of the 10 warning signs.

Source: U.S Department of Health and Human Services

Students report that most bullying happens at school, but bullying does not stop at the end of the school day. Children and youth are also involved in bullying in out-of-school time programs. Although there is very little research on bullying in these settings, a recent national study of sixth through tenth graders in the U.S. (Nansel et al., 2003) found that

• Nine percent of boys and 5 percent of girls reported that they had been bullied away from school “sometimes” or “weekly” (compared with 16 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls who reported being bullied at school).
• Children who bully and who are bullied (both in school and away from school) are more likely than other children to be involved in fighting and carry a weapon. In fact, 70 percent of boys and 30–40 percent of girls who were involved in bullying outside of school on a weekly basis reported carrying a weapon in the past month.

Source: Department of Health and Human Services

• 45% of preteens and 30% of teens who had been cyberbullied received the messages while at school.
• 44% of preteens and 70% of teens who had been cyberbullied received the messages at home.
• 34% of preteens and 25% of teens who had been cyberbullied received the messages while at a friend’s house.

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

• Get into frequent fights
• Be injured in a fight
• Vandalize or steal property
• Drink alcohol
• Smoke
• Be truant from school
• Drop out of school
• Carry a weapon

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

• The child comes home with torn, damaged, or missing pieces of clothing, books or other belongings.
• The child has unexplained bruises, cuts or scratches.
• The child seems afraid of going to school, walking to and from school, riding the school bus or taking part in organized activities with peers.
• The child appears sad, moody, teary or depressed when he or she comes home.
• The child frequently appears anxious and/or suffers from low self-esteem.

Source: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Sadness, hurt feelings, loneliness, and depression
• Poor body image, low self-esteem, and even eating disorders, especially when teased about weight
• Skipping school, bad grades, and being afraid to go to school
• Headaches, stomach aches, and anxiety
• Trouble sleeping
• Thoughts and acts of suicide, in very bad cases

Bullying others or being bullied can hurt someone both physically and emotionally — and have effects even after you become an adult!

If you are being bullied by someone, it’s ok to ask for help if you are experiencing any of the effects listed above. Teachers, parents, a doctor or nurse, and other trusted adults should be able to help you.

Source: Office on Women’s Health.

There are many types of bullying. Bullying can be:

• Leaving someone out of group activities on purpose.
• Giving someone the “silent treatment.”
• Using the Internet, IMs, text messages, and/or e-mail to hurt others (also called cyberbullying).
• Making faces and/or bad gestures with your hands at someone.
• Using a person to get something you want, such as making friends with someone who is smart just so they can do your homework for you.
• Making fun of someone for being “different.”
• Forcing someone to do something embarrassing or dangerous in order to join a sports team or social group (also called hazing).
• Name-calling, teasing, gossiping, and/or spreading rumors.
• Hair pulling, biting, and pinching.
• Threatening and scaring others.
• Hitting, punching, and shoving.

Bullying doesn’t just happen between girls. Did you know that sometimes adults bully kids? This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen sometimes. Bullying can happen when one person has power over another person. Teachers and coaches have power over students. Anytime a person hurts another person on purpose (either with words or actions), over and over again, this is bullying.

Also, girls sometimes bully boys. Girls may call a boy “gay” or hit a boy because they know he can’t hit them back.

Source: Office on Women’s Health

Cyberbullying happens most often through:

• Web sites (including social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter)
• Blogs
• Instant messages (IMs)
• E-mail
• Chat rooms
• Text messaging/texting
• Cell phone photo messages
• Virtual worlds

Many teens today, especially girls, use technology to bully others. Teens may be more likely to cyberbully because they feel protected by the Internet. It’s much easier to type mean words to someone than to say them in person, but that doesn’t make them any less hurtful.

Source: Office on Women’s Health