From AEPAE, the Spanish Association for the Prevention of Bullying, we are receiving the following recommendations.

If you detect any case of bullying, contact the school immediately to start the action protocol.

Constant observation of possible signs that may alert us that your child is being bullied: decreased school performance, loss of school supplies, mood swings, fear of going to school, insomnia, physical injuries…

Foster a climate of trust. Teach your child to show his/her feelings without fear and to express himself/herself in an assertive manner.

Spend time showing interest in how his/her day has gone and how he/she is doing at school.

Set limits on his/her daily behavior and assign him/her tasks so that he/she gains responsibility and self-esteem, congratulating him/her when he/she completes them and explaining the consequences of not completing them when he/she does not: positive reinforcement is much more effective than constant scolding.

Ask for a tutoring session to see what has happened with your child.

Check that the specific episode – verbal, physical or psychological abuse – does not happen again.

Encourage your child not to allow these specific episodes to happen again: to inform the teacher and to tell them when he/she gets home.

Give him/her tools for self-defense, verbal and physical.

Let your child know that he/she can count on you and that you will always be there for him/her to help him/her with whatever he/she needs.

Collect all possible information: what is happening to him/her, since when it happens, where it happens, and who is harassing him/her. Make a chronology of the events, attaching, if any, injury reports, or medical reports from the psychologist and/or psychiatrist.

Urgently request a meeting with the tutor/guardian to inform him/her of all the facts, provide the documentation and request that the school conduct an investigation of the reported events, that they protect your child/children, arranging a second appointment the following week, to follow up.

At this second meeting, the school is obliged to inform the parents of the protection measures and the disciplinary measures that have been implemented, showing the parents the official protocol of action that the school must open. The protocol of action is NOT confidential.

At the third meeting, inform the school of the satisfaction or disapproval of the process, in which the protection of the victim and the educational sanction must prevail. All this after the family has assessed the evolution of the situation with their son/daughter.

In the event that the situation persists, go with all the documentation to the educational inspection and if the situation is not resolved,file a complaint through civil and/or criminal means.