Bullying can take many forms, from hitting, pushing and threatening others to name-calling, spreading rumours, public humiliation and harassment through digital platforms. It can also involve deliberately excluding a child from group activities, encouraging others to isolate them or repeatedly making them feel unwanted. While these behaviours may leave no physical marks, their psychological impact can be significant.
According to UNESCO, students who experience bullying are twice as likely to suffer from severe loneliness, insomnia and suicidal thoughts. Bullying is also associated with anxiety, depression, social withdrawal and declining academic performance.
Recognising bullying begins with adults
The Organization highlights that bullying is not confined to classrooms or playgrounds. Harmful behaviours can occur within families, friendship groups, extracurricular activities and online communities, sometimes disguised as humour, discipline or ordinary social interactions.
Repeatedly humiliating a child, mocking their appearance or abilities, comparing them negatively with others or dismissing their distress can cause emotional harm. Adults must recognise that children learn from the behaviour they witness, including how parents, caregivers and teachers speak about and treat other people.
Not every disagreement or isolated incident constitutes bullying. However, repeated harmful behaviour involving an imbalance of power must be addressed, while other forms of emotional abuse also require intervention.
Children experiencing bullying may become withdrawn, reluctant to attend school, anxious around peers or digital devices, or show changes in sleep, mood or academic performance. These signs do not, on their own, establish that bullying has occurred, but should prompt a calm conversation to understand their causes without judgement or dismissing the child’s feelings.
Practical steps to strengthen protection
To prevent bullying and limit its impact on children, the Organization calls on parents, caregivers, educators and community members to understand its different forms, including physical, verbal, social and cyberbullying. Adults should help children recognise harmful behaviour, seek help, develop empathy and respect differences.
Supporting a child who has experienced bullying begins with listening and reassuring them that they are not responsible for the abuse. Adults should agree on steps with the child to keep them safe, coordinate with the school and relevant authorities where needed, and follow up to ensure the harmful behaviour has stopped.
Children who witness bullying should be encouraged not to join in or share harmful content, to support the affected child and to inform a trusted adult without putting themselves at risk.
A child who engages in bullying needs help to understand the impact of their actions, alongside clear boundaries on their behaviour. Adults should explore the reasons behind it, teach respectful alternatives and help the child take responsibility for repairing the harm without humiliating or labelling them.
Protecting children is everyone’s responsibility
CSO emphasises that preventing bullying requires more than teaching children to defend themselves. It requires a shared commitment to intervene when harmful behaviour occurs, whether it comes from children or adults, and to address it before it becomes an established pattern.
The Organization also stresses the importance of equipping parents with positive parenting skills and helping them recognise signs that their child may be experiencing or engaging in bullying, so they can respond appropriately in either situation.
CSO concludes that families, schools and the wider community share responsibility for protecting children’s dignity and emotional wellbeing, and for putting that commitment into everyday practice so children feel safe, valued and accepted.
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