What do I do if my child is being bullied at school?

• Support your child and believe what they're telling you. Take it seriously.
• Take as much information from your child as you can. Try to establish a timeline of what has happened and how often.
• Become familiar with your school or district's anti-bullying policy posted on their website and your state's bullying prevention laws.
• Reach out to your child’s teacher, including the school counselor and the principal on the same email. You can also ask for a meeting. Document everything — create a paper trail so that it’s not your word against someone else’s.
• Give the school time to interview all the kids and adults involved, and review any video footage to establish what happened. The adults at school need to talk to the bully.
• Climb the chain of command until you can reach the principal, the director of special education for your district, the superintendent, and the Board of Education as necessary.
• If a weapon is involved, call the police.
• If the school’s response is not adequate, write a Gebser letter.

You can learn more about responding to bullying and how to write a Gebser letter in our article Bullying and Kids with Disabilities