Guidelines

Contact with the school is essential for parents, as soon as the first signs of a bullying situation, either as a victim or as a bully, appear. The first contact passes through teachers, who live day by day the relationship with the students. However, bullying can also occur out of the classroom, or even out of the school. In such cases , the school and the parents should have first of all unity of purpose, showing no hesitation in talking about the problem. They should try as much as possible to be clear about the objectives of their intervention.
Each school can have its own tools to provide practical help to families, but one of the most effective is a kind of Listening Desk which collects the students' problems and requests. For this reason it is important that , as shown in the first step, parents are familiar with the support they can receive from the school in the case of the slightest concern and suspicion. School must listen carefully to the concerns of families and the two of them – family and school- should join their resources and share a plan of action aimed primarily at solving the problem.