Being bullied leads to depression and low self-esteem, problems that can carry into adulthood. Parents are often unaware of the bullying problem and talk about it with their children only to a limited extent. Student surveys reveal that a low percentage of students seem to believe that adults will help. Students feel that adult intervention is infrequent and ineffective, and that telling adults will only bring more harassment from bullies. Students report that teachers seldom or never talk to their classes about bullying.
Bullying is a problem that occurs in the social environment as a whole.
The bullies' aggression occurs in social contexts in which teachers and parents are generally unaware of the extent of the problem and other children are either reluctant to get involved or simply do not know how to help. Given this situation, effective interventions must involve the entire school community rather than focus on the perpetrators and victims alone. The following is suggested approach that involves interventions at the school, class, and individual levels. The questionnaire helps both adults and students become aware of the extent of the problem, helps to justify intervention efforts, and serves as a benchmark to measure the impact of improvements in school climate once other intervention components are in place. A parental awareness campaign can be conducted during parent-teacher conference days, through parent newsletters, and at PTA meetings.