Bullying Resources for Parents, Teachers & Schools

Bullying can be difficult to understand from the outside, especially when there isn’t an obvious incident you can point to. Sometimes a student tells you exactly what’s happening. Other times, you start noticing small changes and aren’t quite sure what they mean or whether you should step in.

And once you do know bullying is happening, another set of questions usually follows. Why is this happening? What should you say? How do you support the student being targeted while also addressing the behavior of the student causing harm?

That’s why we created Bullying Weekly, a growing collection of bullying resources for teachers, parents, counselors, and anyone else trying to better understand what happens between students.

Understanding Bullying Before We Respond

It’s tempting to think of bullying as a straightforward problem with clearly defined roles, but real situations between students are rarely that simple.

A student who is being targeted may be afraid to tell anyone what’s happening. The child doing the bullying may be dealing with problems of their own, or may not fully understand why they’ve fallen into a particular pattern of behavior. Sometimes what initially looks like bullying turns out to be a conflict between students who both need help navigating the situation.

The more we understand those differences, the better our response can be.

Throughout this series, we look beyond individual incidents to explore why bullying happens, why so much of it goes unreported, and how patterns can develop over time. We also talk about the language adults use around bullying, including why labeling children as “bullies” and “victims” can sometimes make it harder for students to move forward.

Practical Bullying Resources You Can Actually Use

Understanding bullying is important, but eventually you need to know what to do with that information.

Our goal with this series is to give you ideas you can bring into the conversations you’re already having with students. Some articles may help you recognize something you’ve been seeing in a classroom, while others can give you a different way to approach a situation that hasn’t been improving.

You don’t have to read everything in order. Start with the issue you’re dealing with right now, then explore the related resources as you need them.

Bullying is complicated, and there isn’t a single response that will work for every student or every situation. Having a better understanding of what’s happening gives us a much stronger place to start.