Bullying can be heartbreaking for parents and kids alike, and it’s often difficult for kids to know how to respond. Here are some quick tips for teaching kids how to deal with bullies. You can tell them…
📌 Make sure they know that ignoring it or walking away is NOT weak. Instead, it signals that your child is unbothered. If it’s hard for them to stay composed, you can tell them to picture the bully’s words bouncing off them like a ball, or to count backwards from 100 while they walk.
📌 Make eye contact if you speak to them. If that’s too uncomfortable, your child can look at the bully’s nose—they won’t be able to tell the difference.
📌 Don’t insult the bully to try to “get back” at them, which will just rile them up more.
📌 They can also do things like ask a teacher for help or enlist a few friends to walk with them at times when the bully is usually around.
Stop Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation
Everyone has the right to feel respected and be treated with dignity. At FCPS we believe schools must be safe, provide an optimal environment for achievement and be free from violence.
FCPS teachers establish clear behavior standards and make every effort to:
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Be aware of problems
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Provide proper guidance and supervision
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Consistently and fairly enforce policies
Bullying incidents, however, tend to occur out of sight of school staff. Research and experience show that a comprehensive approach that includes students and parents has the most promise in reducing bullying and the harm it causes.
If you have a concern or disagree with a decision made about your child’s safety, instruction, discipline or other matter, FCPS is ready to work with you to resolve the issue. Usually issues are most quickly resolved closest to the source of the concern. Therefore, we recommend following this sequence, starting with #1 and proceeding to the next level as necessary until your concern is satisfactorily resolved:
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Your child’s teacher or school counselor, as appropriate
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School assistant principal or principal
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Central Office instructional director or the appropriate department supervisor if your concern is about a non-school matter such as transportation or food service
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Executive director of School Administration and Leadership
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Deputy superintendent or chief operating officer
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Superintendent
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Board of Education
Report Bullying, Harassment or Intimidation
It is not helpful to simply tell a child to ignore bullying or encourage a child to fight the bully.
Children need a trusted adult to turn to when they feel threatened. It is important to contact the school counselor, administrator or teacher to report bullying because it may not stop without help.
To report bullying, use the FCPS Bullying, Harassment or Intimidation Reporting Form available under Resources on this page and in school offices.
If bullying happens outside of school, families can call:
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211 for community resource information
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Law enforcement if threats or physical harm occur