Signs of Bullying
Signs of Bullying:
Children may:
- be frightened of walking to and from school (Fear of ambush and beating)
- change their usual route (same reason)
- not want you to go on the school bus ( bags thrown around the bus, out of window, covert beating, threats, insults, no proper supervision)
- beg you to drive them to school (attacks etc on the way even by those accompanying)
- be unwilling to go to school or be 'school phobic' (general fear of continued bullying)
- feel ill in the mornings (fear and stress)
- start truanting (to avoid the pain)
- begin to do poorly in their school work (stress, sometimes being asked for work to be copied)
- come home with black eye, bruises etc
- come home regularly with clothes or books destroyed (result of physical bullying)
- come home starving (bully taking lunch or dinner money)
- become withdrawn, start stammering, lack confidence (extreme fear and stress)
- become distressed and anxious, stop eating (extreme fear and stress, feeling of hopelessness)
- attempt or threaten suicide (feeling of hopelessness)
- cry themselves to sleep, have nightmares (feeling of no redress, hopelessness)
- have their possessions go missing (bullying, robbery)
- ask for money or start stealing (to pay the bully)
- continually 'lose' their pocket money (payment of bullies or blackmail)
- refuse to talk about what's wrong (fear, hopelessness)
- have unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches (physical bullying)
- begin to bully other children, siblings (many bullied children do this)
- become aggressive and unreasonable (taking out frustrations on other targets)
- give improbable excuses for any of the above (fear, hopelessness, no redress)
- get upset after receiving text message or after computer visit (cyber bullying)
- spend too much time in room alone (unable to talk about the cyber
bullying)
Main source of Signs above: Kidscape
(parentheses and extras added by me)
Back:
Steps to take
Next: Article
in Irish Independent
Return to:Contents
This page last updated: 7 June 2006