All students and staff have the right to be respected and to feel safe at school. Based on this belief, bullying and harassment of others in not tolerated at any Lutheran Education Queensland school for any reason.
What is bullying?
Bullying is the intentional and repetitive hurtful behaviour towards someone who is unable to stop the behaviour from occurring. It includes physical actions and verbal actions, inappropriate use of technology (cyber-bullying) as well as exclusion.
What can I do to prevent bullying?
- Treat everyone with respect.
- Know that ‘put downs’ hurt others.
- Help others who are being bullied.
What do I do if I witness bullying?
We encourage you to report the incident to a staff member. Reporting bullying is not dobbing. Dobbing is when you are trying to get someone into trouble, whereas reporting bullying behaviour is trying to get someone out of trouble.
What do I do if I am the target of bullying?
We encourage you to:
- tell the person to stop the bullying behaviour if you can
- share the problem with family members, friends, your Home Group teacher or any other staff member
- report the bullying incident/s to a staff member, where you will be taken seriously and action will be taken to prevent bullying from happening again
- keep asking for support until the bullying has stopped.
What should a parent do if they believe their child is being bullied?
If you believe your child is being bullied, please communicate your concerns to staff at your school.
What signs may a child display if they are being bullied?
Signs a child may be bullied include:
- displaying uncharacteristic unhappiness
- deterioration of school work
- not wanting to go to school and/or sudden increase in anxiety about going to school
- unexplained bruises, cuts or injuries
- the desire to be with an adult at all times
- extra requests for pocket money, loss of, or damaged personal property.
What do I do if I’m the target of cyber-bullying?
Cyber-bullying, including text message harassment and intimidation, is a criminal offence. Save all messages, which will be helpful if you make a police report.
- Stop! Don’t respond to cyber-bulling and don’t let the message go for too long before doing something about it.
- Block! If the situation continues, ask your parent to contact your mobile provider to block the mobile phone from receiving all text messages temporarily. If the bullying is occurring online, block the cyber-bully and limit all communication to only those on your buddy list.
- Tell! Tell a trusted adult—you don’t have to face this alone.
Inspire your child to learn for life.
