Back-to-School Bullying: What Parents Need to Know

Thanks for having me.

We're so happy to have you back, especially on this topic because kids just went back to school.

And one of the things parents might be concerned about is bullying.

So we're going to talk about bullying.

But before we get into that, could you just remind us a little bit about yourself, your expertise and what you do here at the Health Sciences Center?

Absolutely.

Yeah, so I'm a clinical child and adolescent psychologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at TTUHSC.

Most of my work clinically speaking involves intervention, specifically when it comes to children and adolescents who have experienced trauma and adversity.

do a lot of behavior management stuff too, particularly with parents.

And a major focus of my training was actually working with individuals who had experienced peer victimization and bullying and supporting them from that trauma lens.

And so I'm really excited to be talking about this topic today.

Well, again, we're happy to have you here.

So can you tell us what should parents, caregivers, and adults know about bullying when it comes to children from pre-K to 12?

I think there might be a lot of, I guess, preconceived notions about bullying, preset beliefs that caregivers have, and maybe other folks too within the school systems.

And the big thing that I want to do is maybe dispel any myths that might be out there.

The first is just in terms of how common bullying is.

We know it's actually quite common.

And I think sometimes it's really hard to get clear data on this just because we're not always hearing about all of the reports every single time that this is happening.

There are a lot of barriers as to why Kids and teens may not report whenever instances of bullying are happening.

But what we do know is that about 20% annually experience bullying in one way, shape, or form.

And there are all kinds of different ways in which this bullying can look.

This might be physical aggression.

This might be verbal aggression.

It could be being ostracized from groups, having rumors spread.

and those sorts of things.