Teachers and bullying | AboutKidsHealth at The Hospital for Sick Children

How often has your child come home telling you that they are being singled out in a class? In this video, Dr. Debra Pepler shares a few tips about how to navigate and deal with a bullying teacher.

Follow us on:

PREVNet - join us in "Creating a World Without Bullying"

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTS: Teachers and Bullying

One of the hardest things in preventing bullying is to ensure that we as adults aren't doing the bullying; that we're not using our power aggressively against children, or against other adults.

Sometimes, teachers use their power aggressively against children. They say things that humiliate children, they isolate children, they humiliate children, and if your child talks to you about that, that the teacher is creating difficulties for him or her, it's really important to go and first talk to the teacher. But that sometimes doesn't work.

Sometimes these teachers aren't aware of what they're doing, and the impact that it has on children. So then I would go to talk to the principal about it.

And again, it's really helpful if you document when your child comes home, and tells you that something's gone wrong; write it down, write the date, write the names of the people involved, and then you'll have that documentation to take in to the school when you want to raise the issue and solve the problem.

Bullying Tips:
- If your child says they are being singled out, investigate
- Keep a journal of the incidents as they occur
- If you can't resolve the situation with the teacher, go to the principal

In video:
Teachers and Bullying: Debra J. Pepler, Ph.D, C.Psych, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology, York University

--------------------------------

This video does not constitute medical advice, and is not meant to be used or relied upon by anyone without additional guidance and supervision from a qualified physician. Do not perform the procedures described in this video unless your child's physician has reviewed this video and provides you with specific instructions and directions about performing these procedures.
#bullying