Bullying never gets old. It constantly remains in the news. Every now and then we hear stories about bullying at school, workplace or home. In this post, we will talk about how bullying can be prevented in school. A perfect example to understand how bullying occurs in school is watching the famous Netflix show, 13 Reasons Why.

While parents like to intervene the bullying situation when they find out about their kids being bullied at school because they feel a school won’t do them much help, it’s always suggested to inform the school about the situation and let them take the matter into their hands.

The schools should play a crucial role in preventing bullying. Undoubtedly, they are in a position to provide better education and protection to the kids as well as their parents. Bullying largely occurs within the parameters of a school – in the cafeteria, in the locker room, during break time or right outside the school building. It occurs in the school areas where bullies’ actions cannot be looked upon and they are easily able to exercise their power over the victim.

Since schools have hired professional counselors for this very purpose – to prevent bullying from happening in the school – so they should be given away this job to handle. Parents should, at any given time, be able to talk to the school counselors if or when they hear their kids reporting to them about a bullying incident.

Here are some ways a school can effectively follow to prevent bullying.

Help Students Identify Bullying

A school should help students identify bullying by making it a regular part of their curriculum. Students should learn to identify bullying actions and language in themselves as well as others. Bullying prevention classes should be given to them where they can gain detailed knowledge about bullying. They should also be taught positive communication skills. This will help create a more positive environment in the school where children will refrain from getting involved in a bullying activity.

Encourage Students to Report Bullying

Every school should have a well-established system for a student, encouraging them to report bullying occurrences at school (anonymously, if required) and get instant help. When students would be encouraged to report being bullied by someone to the school counselors, they would feel less threatened by knowing someone’s out there in the school that could help them. The victim should immediately report the bullying incident to the counselor, enabling the school to take an action against the bully.

Take Strong Actions Against Bullies

As soon as the victim reports about getting bullied to the school counselor, a strong action should be taken against the bully by notifying their family with an immediate effect. In most cases, the bully gets suspended from the school, as a result, they are dismissed from attending the classes or taking part in the extracurricular activities. The school authorities should take an action against the bully in order to prevent bullying in future. This will help make the bully learn their lesson the hard way and most likely will stop them from bullying others.

Have Strong Repercussions for Bullying

Another way a school can prevent bullying is by having strong repercussions for it. Bullying is now considered an illegal offense and there should be zero tolerance for this behavior. Schools, especially the professional student counselors should make a real effort in getting to the bottom of the cause. They can have discussions with the victim, the bully, as well as their families.

It’s very important to understand why a bully victimizes others. In often cases, students, who have been bullied at home, become the bullies at school and abuse others. Their families should be interrogated to understand the reason behind their behavior. Families should be taught to maintain healthy relationships with their children so no bullying occurs at home.

Help the Bullies

Schools should lend their support towards those who are bullied, who bully others and those who help the bullies. Counseling should be made available to everyone involved in the bullying incident. By speaking to them privately, the counselors can decide whether the students need outside help from the therapists.