For parents and the community

Creating inclusive, safe and respectful learning environments requires parents and the community to work together with school staff to teach and model positive behaviours to children and young people.

My child is being bullied

If your child is being bullied or you have concerns about bullying behaviour at school, working together with the school is the best way to find a solution.

You can help by:

• listening to your child—let them share what's happened, how they feel and what help they need
• talking to a teacher, guidance officer or the principal about what’s happened and ask what they will do to help and when
• checking in with your child regularly about how things are going, and taking further action such as following up with the school again if necessary.

You can also let your child know they can get help from:

• Kids Helpline
• Phone: 1800 55 1800
• Chat online with a counsellor
  
• Headspace
• Phone: 1800 650 890
• Chat online or email

If you need someone to talk to about a parenting related issue, you can contact:

• Parentline
• Phone: 1300 30 1300
• WebChat

Additional resources:

• Bullying No Way—guides families on how to work effectively with schools when a child is experiencing bullying, offering practical tips on communication and collaboration to resolve the situation.
• Support staff—describes the wellbeing and mental health staff available to assist students and families in Queensland state schools.

Cyberbullying

Keeping your child safe online

Online safety starts at home. As a parent or carer, you play a vital role in helping your child navigate the digital world.

Here are some practical ways you can guide, protect and stay connected with your child in the digital world:

1. Parental controls: use software tools for online monitoring.
2. Walk the talk: set reasonable screen time boundaries and prioritise device-free moments for the whole family (even for yourself!).
3. Talk about it: start non-judgmental conversations (PDF, 1.76MB) with your child about their online activities to build trust.
4. Set family rules: involve your child in setting age-appropriate rules. Display them for the family to access and stick to them consistently.
5. Educate on online safety: stay informed about online trends. Teach your child about privacy, risks of sharing personal info, and respectful online behaviour.

Supporting your child when things go wrong

Keeping children safe online can be a challenge. Even with your best efforts, negative experiences, such as cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, or unwanted contact, can still occur.

Here are some steps you can take when things go wrong online for your child:

1. Listen and support: create a safe space for your child to share their feelings—actively listen without judgement, providing emotional support to build trust.
2. Collect evidence: seek professional help immediately if your child is at risk. Gather evidence such as the usernames of the accounts and URLs of the profiles used to target your child, and the times and dates the content was sent or shared. This information can be used for reporting.
3. Report and block: use online platforms' reporting features to address inappropriate behaviour. Guide your child through reporting and blocking users involved in online bullying.
4. Contact your child's school: share concerns with your child's teachers or school administrators. Schools have processes to address online issues that involve other students.
5. Seek professional help: consider support services like eSafety, headspace, Kids Helpline and Parentline for additional assistance.

Additional resources

• Cyberbullying and school aged students fact sheet and flowchart (PDF, 972KB)—outlines the process for reporting online incidents and the responsibilities of Queensland state school principals and staff in responding to cyberbullying.
• Cyberbullying (eSafety)—offers information and resources to help understand and address cyberbullying, including strategies for supporting children and managing online safety.
• Cybersafety: Information for parents and carers (PDF, 725KB)—provides information on how to recognise cyberbullying, steps to support children who are being bullied online and advice on where to get help.
• eSafety guide—gives tips on how to help your children stay safe online; avoid cyberbullying; and manage their privacy on apps, games and websites.
• Resources for secondary school students—gives parents resources they can use to teach young people how to manage their online presence and make smart choices to stay safe from cyberbullying and other online risks.
• Yourtown Parentline Cyberbullying—offers parents, carers and grandparents free online training to help identify and address cyberbullying, providing practical advice and guidance on starting difficult conversations.

Things you can do to help prevent and respond to bullying

• Helping your child stop bullying: a guide for parents—describes practical things you can do if your child has been involved in some type of bullying.
• Managing conflict and recognising bullying—provides guidance focussing on young children and offers strategies to promote positive behaviour and resolve issues early.
• Supporting students' wellbeing and mental health—provides information and resources for parents to support children’s health, safety, and wellbeing at school, including tips on managing stress, promoting positive behaviour and addressing bullying.
• Student Wellbeing Hub—provides parents with resources and advice to support their child's wellbeing, including strategies for managing stress, preventing bullying and fostering a positive and healthy school experience.
• Bullying and school aged students fact sheet and flowchart (PDF, 92KB)—outlines the responsibilities of Queensland state school principals, staff and students in responding to bullying.
• Customer complaints—provides parents and carers with information about how to let the Queensland Department of Education know they are unhappy about how a state school or its staff has responded to concerns about bullying.
• Wellbeing podcasts—offer insights and strategies to support student mental health and address issues like bullying.
• Working Together video—is a toolkit providing parents with information on what bullying is, how parents can recognise if their child is being bullied, how to support your child, how to work with your child's school, what to do if your child is doing the bullying and information about cybersafety.​​