Parents of bullies 'need more help'

Published on Monday 20 September 2010 13:49

A PARENTING charity has called for greater support for parents whose children are bullies.

Parentline Plus made the call in its report Dealing with the Bullies, which is based on research from calls to its helpline.

The study revealed that 5 per cent of the 67,983 calls to the free 24-hour phoneline between October 2008 and April 2010 concerned bullying. In 8 per cent of these cases, the caller's child was the perpetrator involved.

Jeremy Todd, Parentline Plus's chief executive, said: "Bullying is a real concern to the families of bullied children who often find the situation traumatic and hard to manage. Other families, however may be experiencing the reverse: what to do if their child is the bully?

"While the focus is primarily on victims, we believe working with the families of bullies is the best preventative measure. Parents and professionals must engage with children who bully and their parents."

Sandra, a parent quoted in the report, said she was appalled when she was called into her son's school after he was accused of bullying.

She said: "I felt sick as I watched a video of Jamie beating up another boy. It broke my heart to think my son was a bully."