Information for Parents of Primary School Students

This site aims to help parents and carers of primary and pre-school children deal with the issues surrounding bullying. It provides information to help and support children to be confident and happy in their relationships with others and it also has useful advice for when things go wrong.

Why do most students not bully others?

Most students do not bully other students in schools. There is really only a small number of students who bully others over and over. As the aim of this Program is to prevent bullying from happening, it is important to look at why most students don’t get involved in bullying.

Some students don’t bully because they don’t have the power over others to do so. However many students who have the power choose not to use it in a negative way.

They do this because:

They have good social skills so they can make friends and be happy without bullying.
They think bullying is wrong. Most students, in our research, said that they would feel ashamed of themselves and their parents would be really upset with them if they bullied.
They don’t feel they need to bully. Students who feel good about themselves and enjoy school say they don’t feel the need to bully.
They are too busy to think about it. Students who are involved in activities and are enjoying what they are doing are usually not interested in bullying.
They have strong, supportive friendships groups. Students who have happy and supportive friends are found to be far less likely to bully or to be bullied.

They believe that bullying isn’t worth it. Some students may sometimes feel like bullying but don’t because they know the consequences will be bad. For example they will get into trouble at school and at home and/or their bullying behaviour will make them look bad to friends, family or their teachers.