What are the signs of #bullying? When does the teasing become torment?

Writer: Jamie Howard, PhD

Clinical Expert: Jamie Howard, PhD

What You'll Learn

- What’s the difference between teasing and #bullying?
- What questions should I ask my #child if they say they’re being #bullied?
- What should I do if I think my #child is being #bullied?

- Quick Read
- Full Article
- When does teasing or harassment become #bullying?
- Before giving #bullying advice, collect the facts
- Strategies on how to handle #bullying

#Kids can be really mean to each other. Even best friends are mean to each other sometimes. When a kid is teased or left out or someone is mean to them, it doesn’t always mean they’re being #bullied.

So how do you know if your #kid is being bullied? Bullies target #kids who are smaller or younger or less popular. They hurt other #kids physically or emotionally on purpose. They do it over and over and sometimes they get other #kids to join in the #bullying. #Bullying can make #kids feel anxious and depressed. It needs to be taken seriously.

If your #kid tells you they’re being #bullied, it’s important to let your #child know you’ll help solve the problem. First, get the facts. Try acting like a reporter. You can ask questions like, “Were lots of #kids around when they said that to you?” “Are they a really popular #kid?” “What were the other #kids doing?” This will give you a better idea of what happened. And if it happens two or three times you might need to get involved. This could mean contacting a #teacher or the #school principal. But try to get your kid’s permission before you do that. If they’re really against it, you can hold off but let them know it’s an option if things get worse.

Talking about #bullying before it happens can prepare your #child. You can practice having your #child say things like, “Hey, don’t talk to me that way,” and other things that make them feel like they have some power. You can suggest that your #child talk to their #friends and ask them how they’ve handled bullies. #Friends can also agree to stand up for each other. Bullies hate that!

We are all aware that being #bullied as a #child is not a trivial thing. It not only causes acute suffering, it has been linked to long-term emotional problems, and #children who lack strong parental support seem to encounter the most lasting damage.

But we also know that it’s part of growing up to have painful or embarrassing social experiences, and that learning to rebound from these interactions is an important skill for #kids to learn.

If our #kids complain about #bullying, we want to take their complaints very seriously, give them the support and tools to handle it, and intervene on their behalf when needed. But we don’t want to teach them that every negative experience with their peers is a form of #bullying.

#Kids I’m working with will say, “I was being #bullied.” And when they describe what happened, sometimes it was really just teasing. Maybe someone was giving them a hard time and it was difficult to deal with. But not every incident of meanness, rejection or hostility is #bullying.

When does teasing or harassment become #bullying?

- When there’s a power difference: #Bullying is done by someone in a position of power—it might be in the form of physical strength, or popularity—and it is directed at someone who is perceived as less powerful.
- When there’s intention to cause harm. #Bullying can take the form of a physical or verbal attack, making threats, spreading rumors, or excluding someone from a group on purpose. It’s not inadvertent.
- When it’s repeated: #Bullying #behavior is an ongoing pattern of hostile or abusive actions directed at the #child who is the target.
- When it does cause harm: #Behavior becomes #bullying when it impairs the well-being or functioning of the #child who’s targeted.

If your #child reports to you that she has been bullied, my advice is to take it very seriously, because, if nothing else, it really hurt her feelings and she’s struggling with it. You want to listen and express empathy without treating her as if she’s fragile. You want to model a confident we-can-solve-this-problem attitude.

What you don’t want to do is express shock and anger and vow immediately to go to the #school, or talk to the child’s #parents. Tempering your response encourages your #child to open up.

Before giving #bullying advice, collect the facts

Your first job is to try to get a detailed picture of what happened. It’s hard when you’re a #parent because your stomach flips, your protective impulses kick in, and you just want to punish the #kid that’s hurt your child’s feelings. But it’s more effective to be like a reporter: “Okay, who was there? What was going on? What was said, exactly? What did you do? How did you feel?”

You’re gathering all the data, the evidence of what happened. The details are important, not for the purpose of invalidating your child’s feelings or minimizing what happened—”Well, that doesn’t sound like it was really that bad”—but just so that you can tailor your strategies better.

Part of the goal of asking questions is to get a sense of the social hierarchy.

You might say, “Was it a big group of #kids? Were lots of #kids surrounding him when he said that to you? Is he a really popular #kid? What were the other #kids doing?” And it also gives you a sense of how embarrassing it might have been.

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Strategies on how to handle #bullying

Once you’ve asked your #child exactly what happened, here’s some #bullying advice to consider:

- Practice assertiveness. That means showing confidence both verbally and nonverbally. Suggest that your #child try standing tall and saying, “Don’t talk to me like that!” It can help to script some things your #child could say and role-play-you do it first, and then let your #child try it out.
- Find allies. Suggest that your #child talk to his friends about ways they might handle it and ways they’ve handled stuff that’s similar. They may have some good ideas and it will make him feel less isolated.
- Get involved. Activities that your #child is good at, that he enjoys, are very protective. Because if he’s doing something he enjoys, and he’s thriving, he’s not going to care as much. The confidence he feels when he’s in his element will carry over to environments in which he’s less secure.
- Enlist #adults. If your #child needs an #adult advocate, consider contacting a #teacher or #school administrator. First, try to get your child’s permission, telling her, “I really want to call the #teacher and ask him to keep an eye on it.” If she’s adamantly against it, I would keep the option open, saying, “I’m not going to now, and I will tell you before I do.” So there’s some perception of control. But you’re also teaching her a lesson: “Listen, yes it might be embarrassing, but you need to stand up for yourself. And self-advocacy is more important.”
- Monitor incidents. One incident isn’t necessarily #bullying, but you want to notice if it’s becoming a pattern. Tell your #child to let you know if it happens again. You might say, “I want to stay on top of this and make sure we solve it.”
- Be prepared. It’s important to talk about #bullying even if it hasn’t happened, so that if it does your #child is better equipped to recognize it and more comfortable telling you about it.
- Form a partnership with the #teacher. Let your child’s #teacher know that you hope she’ll touch base with you whenever there’s something concerning, and that you hope she doesn’t mind if you do the same.

This article was last reviewed or updated on September 3, 2021.

Jamie Howard, PhD

Jamie M. Howard, PhD, is a senior clinical #psychologist in the #AnxietyDisorders Center at the #ChildMindInstitute and … Read Bio
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