Schools must try to get the parents involved in their efforts to prevent bullying. Many parents often do not understand how devastating impact of bullying can be.
Children need consistency whether they are in school or at home. If school staff promotes a “no bullying” environment at school, then it is important for parents to totally support that approach when children are at home and when there is a discussion about bullying. It will be of no use if parents do not follow up on the directions set by the school staff – in that case, no matter how hard the school staff tries to prevent bullying, there will likely be continuing bullying incidents at school since the bully knows that he/she has support from home.
This makes it very hard for the school staff. I have had several presentations at schools around the country and in many cases I was asked to make an additional presentation to a group of parents. Although the school presentations were very well attended, the presentations for the parents have typically not been very well attended. It has been clear to me that many parents still follow the “boys will be boys” attitude and do not take bullying seriously.
It is a sad situation because with just a little bit of support from the parents, the school staff can really do an excellent job of preventing bullying. I strongly believe that if the parents really understood the kind of devastating impact bullying can have on many innocent children, they will work hard to cooperate with the school staff and make sure that a positive environment is maintained at school.