Bullying in schools: how to prevent and deal with bullying

What is bullying? 

UNESCO defines bullying as: “Repeated aggressive behaviour that involves unwanted negative actions, a pattern over time, and an imbalance of power or strength.”

In international schools, students and staff are often from different cultural backgrounds, which can affect our understanding of bullying – what one person sees as 'banter’ might be more seriously harmful to another. 

International schools can also face unique challenges, such as name-calling in a different language or exclusion from play due to cultural differences. As such, staff need to understand that bullying is defined by the impact on the child rather than the perpetrator's intention.

Some groups are more vulnerable to bullying than others. Because bullies often target those who are perceived to be ‘different’, children and young people are more likely to be bullied if they are: 

• New to the school 

• From a minority ethnic background or speak a different language 

• A child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) 

• Openly, or are perceived to be, LGBTQ+ 

This is not an exhaustive list, and perceived differences amongst children might even include things like clothing choices or hair colour. 

The digital world: what is cyberbullying?

With the digital world being a large part of children’s lives, it’s important for the adults that work with them to be aware of the role technology can play in bullying behaviour.

Cyberbullying is bullying through digital channels such as social media or text messaging, in or outside of school. It often includes: 

• Sending threatening or hateful messages 

• Sharing embarrassing videos or images 

• Pretending to be someone else online 

How to identify bullying behaviour 

As a teacher or member of school staff, it’s important you can spot the signs a child is being bullied. While no two children are the same, there are some common signs of bullying: 

• Changes in behaviour such as becoming more reserved 

• Increased absences from school and school avoidance, such as frequent trips to a school nurse or clinic 

• Missing or ‘lost’ belongings 

• Changes in academic performance such as missed homework 

• Physical injuries, especially where they’re unexplained 

• Being alone at lunchtime 

Conversely, there are also indicators that a child might be bullying someone else, including unexplained new belongings, getting into fights and being close friends with a bully. Children who bully are also in need of support – discipline is important, but so are education and self-reflection. 

How to deal with bullying at school 

If you suspect a child is being bullied, create opportunities for them to share with you. Pay attention to the things they tell you and their body language. 

It's important to consider classroom and peer group dynamics, as they may not want to share with you until they feel safe, such as in a one-on-one situation. 

What to do once you know it's bullying

Once you’ve ascertained that a child is being bullied, it’s important you let them know that you will find a solution together, and that they are not at fault. 

Children often fear the repercussions of speaking to a teacher or member of staff, so it can be useful to ask the child what they need from you as this helps to make them feel in control. 

It’s also important to record what you have been told – such as who has been involved and how long the bullying has been happening.

Taking action to stop bullying 

Making sure the child is safe is key and you should prioritise taking action to stop the bullying. This might look like: 

• Talking to the children involved – the alleged bullies might have a different story 

• Emphasising that regardless of who ‘started it’ – or whether the alleged bullies feel they were provoked to act that way – bullying behaviour is not okay no matter who is doing it, or for what reason 

• Taking action to prevent it from continuing or happening again 

• Agree on this action with the children involved, such as with an action plan 

• Decide when you will check in with all children involved to review the situation – and make sure the children are aware this will be happening 

It's key to record what happens at each step and any actions or action plans you and the children agree on. If your school has a process in place for reporting bullying, make sure it’s in line with this. 

Working with parents and guardians 

Including parents and guardians in the process can prevent complaints, and their unique perspective on their own child’s behaviour is likely to be useful – for example, they may be the first to notice their child becoming more withdrawn or coming home with unexplained injuries. 

How can you prevent bullying and cyberbullying? 

Once you have dealt with a bullying issue at school, it’s essential to take action that prevents further incidents from occurring. For schools, this means: 

• Having an anti-bullying policy that clearly defines bullying and includes a strategy for handling incidents 

• Equipping staff to handle bullying with consistent training 

• Having an anti-bullying culture with zero tolerance for bullying behaviour 

• Ensuring children know what bullying looks like and how they should report a bullying incident 

• Assigning a senior leader to lead on managing bullying incidents and bullying prevention 

Learn from any incidents reported to identify areas of focus in your school. This could be locations around the school, classes or year groups where bullying is more common. 

What is anti-bullying? 

As a school, being anti-bullying means proactively working to prevent bullying (rather than simply addressing it when an incident is reported) and building a school culture that doesn’t accept bullying of any kind. 

This creates a safer school environment where children know bullying is unacceptable and all staff know how to handle bullying behaviour when they see it. 

Identify and address bullying with confidence

It's essential that teachers and school staff know how to understand, recognise and prevent bullying behaviour. 

Our Safeguarding Training offer includes a course on Preventing Bullying for International Schools, which includes practical guidance on dealing with bullying in and outside of school, as well as working with parents. 

Our training package offers over 100 hours of learning for international school staff – read our course overview to explore the courses on offer and see how our training can support your school. 

See course overview