Teaching about bullying

Strategies for effective teaching about bullying and cyberbullying in school include:

• creating age-appropriate and relatable definitions with students and staff
• ensuring that students recognise bullying and understand its impacts
• using classroom discussions to support meaningful understandings of bullying that reflect students’ experiences
• mapping teaching and learning activities for bullying prevention to the Australian Curriculum and supporting frameworks.

An ongoing process

Teaching about bullying is more effective when it is an ongoing process rather than a one-off conversation or lesson. When teachers keep communication open and regularly talk about bullying and cyberbullying with students, students are more likely to develop a relatable understanding of bullying and its harms, how to recognise it and what to do if it happens.

Creating a safe and trusting classroom environment encourages open discussions where all students feel comfortable sharing their views. It’s important to:

• not expose the behaviour or personal experience of individual students
• be ready to handle any sensitive disclosures and support students who may have a strong reaction to the topic. 

Recognising bullying

Recognising bullying behaviours is essential for seeking help quickly and intervening effectively. It requires more than just knowing a definition. Research suggests that even when students have learned the definition of bullying, many of them (and some parents, carers, and educators¹) find it hard to apply the definition to real life.² Co-creating age-appropriate definitions and guiding students to work through scenarios can help them recognise what bullying might look like in real life – in the classroom, in the playground and online. 

To fully recognise bullying behaviour, people need to understand the serious harm it causes. A school community that can identify bullying and the harm it causes is better equipped to prevent, intervene and respond effectively.

Co-creating age-appropriate definitions

Children and young people can struggle with definitions of bullying that were developed by adults. For this reason, it is crucial that teachers work with students to co-create definitions that students can understand and apply. 

Students should be taught explicitly about what makes behaviour bullying (feeling less powerful than the person doing the bullying, feeling harmed by the aggression and being bullied repeatedly). They are then better able to identify bullying and cyberbullying when they come across it.³ By using clear language, relatable examples and interactive discussions, teachers can work with students to create definitions that are meaningful, relevant and easily understood at every age level. 

When students actively contribute, they are more likely to understand and remember the definition, making it easier to recognise and address bullying in real-life situations. It also helps students to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility, which can empower them to take an active role in preventing and responding to bullying.⁴

For younger students, storytelling, role-playing or picture books can help to illustrate concepts like kindness versus hurtful behaviour, repetition, feeling less powerful than someone else, intentions and doing things deliberately.

Discussions, case studies and real-life scenarios can be used with older students when unpacking bullying definitions, to create meaningful definitions that reflect their experiences.

Bullying, curriculum and supporting frameworks

A comprehensive and coordinated approach across the whole school can play an important role in preventing bullying and cyberbullying. The Australian Curriculum, the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework are three key sources of information for supporting educators and schools in the development of whole-school approaches and specific curriculum relevant to teaching about bullying and respectful relationships.