Silkysteps early years forum - planning ideas for play

In supporting the cyp and family, actions may include:
Discuss with the young person their preferences for how the issue should be addressed, Discussing strategies for how the young person may deal with the current and potential future bullying incidents. Providing a safe play area or quiet room for cyp who feel threatened or patrolling the areas where the bullying incident has taken place Referring the young person for support or therapeutic intervention from relevant agencies Actively engaging with the young person to assess whether the bullying has stopped and initiating further action if required. Don’t blame the child who is being bullied. Don’t assume that your child did something to provoke the bullying. Don’t say, “What did you do to aggravate the other child?” Listen carefully to what your child tells you about the bullying. Ask him or her to describe who was involved and how and where each bullying episode happened. Learn as much as you can about the bullying tactics used, and when and where the bullying happened. Can your child name other children or adults who may have witnessed the bullying? Keep a diary of any further incidents. Empathise with your cyp Tell him/her that bullying is wrong, not their fault, and that you are glad he or she had the courage to tell you about it. Ask your child what he or she thinks can be done to help. Assure the cyp that you will think about what needs to be done and you will let him or her know what you are going to do. When dealing with a cyp who is being bullied it is important to remember that they will be very upset although they may not show it on the outside. If they have plucked up the courage to talk to you then they need to know you will take the problem seriously. In the case of an older child, it is a good idea to ask them to write down exactly what happened & who was there so that you can speak to other people. The more information you have, the better you will be able to deal with the problem & the faster you can sort out exactly what happened. Reassure the victim that you will be back in touch with them as soon as you have completed your investigation & that if there are any more problems in the meantime they must let you know immediately. Supporting the family Parents can find it very hard to know how to help their child if they are being bullied. Some parents will have to cope with the news that it is their child who is a bully. You need to know how to support parents in both these cases.
Listen to parents; let them explain how they are feeling. Direct them to useful information so that they can start to think how to support their child