Does Reporting Bullying Make It Worse For The Victim?

Does reporting bullying make it worse for the victim? How can we stop bullying without hurting kids more in the process?

As we witness continued bullying in our schools and communities, we must ask ourselves Does Reporting Bullying Make It Worse For The Victim?  Sadly, we have to admit that on many occasions, the act of reporting a bullying encounter will indeed create more problems for the victim.  We simply have to weigh the odds of potential for improvement in the long run.

DOES REPORTING BULLYING MAKE IT WORSE FOR THE VICTIM?

Reporting Creates Evidence And Protection.

While your child may hesitate to report bullying out of fear, it is the evidence and protection they need.  Having any bullying incident documented is a form of protection in itself.  Reporting may cause the bully to lash out again, but once there is already proof there it will be much harder for them to get away with it.  In school bullying situations, this also creates a way for administration to offer and provide protection to the victim.

Reporting Can Create Additional Bullying.

The old adage that nobody likes a snitch is sadly still true today.  Sometimes it is true that reporting a bullying event can lead to the bully attacking again or even in a worse way.  If that occurs, it is also often due to the fact that administration at schools are not following through with protection and prevention.  Not everything is preventable, and continued or worsening bullying is something that does sadly occur.  What we as parents can do is to educate our children on how to handle those situations and how to go to authorities immediately for additional help and documentation.

Education Will Protect And Prevent.

As with every incident of bullying, it has been proven time and again that education will protect and prevent.  Educating our children about how to deal with bullies goes a long way toward building confidence victims need.  Education for parents and educators helps prevent children from becoming bullies.  Education in our communities helps everyone to accept and acknowledge that bullying truly does exist.

While we want to believe that bullying will disappear, we have a long road left to see that happen.  Reporting bullying can in some circumstances make it worse for the victim, but typically that is not the case.  In fact, it general becomes a way to protect the child who is being bullied.  Rather than fear more bullying occurring, we need to continue educating our children, school faculties, parents and communities on the consequences of bullying.

What do you think? Does reporting bullying make it worse for the victim? Even if it does, should we still report it? How can we make it easier on the victim?

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18 thoughts on “Does Reporting Bullying Make It Worse For The Victim?”

  1. I have seen this at my daughter’s school. She is reluctant to report often because she says they take it out on her at school. So we report anyways because the kid bullying also needs help stopping. The report needs to be made and the paper trail needs to be started. I think the real issue is when adults do not help or the leave it all to the victim (a child) to fix. I have seen many adults make it worse.

  2. My daughter experienced bullying 2 years ago and she is still affected by it. Reporting it made it worse for her because the principal did not know what she was doing. We had to raise it to the attention of the local police station. The children left the school and went on to middle school but I ended up putting my daughter in private school. She has started thriving again.

  3. I’m really torn on this whole issue. There are instances where bullying can get out of hand, there is also a lot to be said for letting kids learn to solve issues for themselves instead of expecting someone else to sort it out for them. The sad reality is that bullies exist outside of school also and there isn’t always an authority figure that can deal with them for you. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.

  4. I hate the idea that reporting can make it worse, but it can, unfortunately, be so true. The flip side, that with no reporting, the bullying can be a silent killer to the victim- and that’s a dangerous gamble to take.

  5. I totally get it. I could see a bully getting even madder after reporting, unless the reporting actually does something… for example… if the reporting doesn’t give any reprimand to the bully then they will continue. IF the reporting means the bully gets in major trouble, hopefully he/she would learn their lessons.

  6. In our experience with bullying, it made it much worse and lead us to taking our son out of school. We reported his bullying to the teacher and principal and the boy’s older sister started bullying my son.

  7. The idea of bullies has always scared me. Sometimes it can seem as though it makes it worse, but the steps to help are important and reporting is crucial.

    Bullies need to STOP :(

  8. In a kid’s mind, it probably makes it worse. But realistically, it’s so much better to report it than not too. We have to protect our kids!

  9. It can make it worse, yes, Ive seen it happen recently at our kids school. I think in this case, it’s all on the bully’s parents and how they handle it. From what I’ve seen, when it’s worse, it’s because the parents didn’t take their kids actions seriously and in turn, the bully basically had the permission to go farther.

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