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Why
don't children tell?
Over 16,000 children
from primary and secondary schools in Strathclyde, Scotland
were asked about bullying. Children who were bullied explained
why they find it difficult to report bullying to an adult.
The main reasons are: being afraid of what the bully might
do if he/she found out; not wanting to be thought of as
a tell-tale; not wanting to cause their parents anxiety;
feeling bad about not being able to stand up for themselves
and also being worried about losing friends.
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Article details
A McLean (1994) 'Background
Reading for Schools', Book 8 in the pack 'Bullyproofing
Our School. Promoting Positive Relationships', Strathclyde
Regional Council, Department of Education. This article
can be viewed here.
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 Author
details
At the time of this
study, Alan McLean was Principal Psychologist based at the
Education Department Psychological Service in the former
Strathclyde Regional Council. His particular interests in
the area of bullying include: links between bullying and
motivation; the thinking processes and self-esteem of the
bully.
He can be contacted
at by email.
Studies have found
that there are a number of reasons why children don't tell
when they are being bullied. One reason is pressure from
peers not to 'tell tales'. Another is a feeling that bullying
is inevitable and that nothing can be done about it. There
is also the fear of what the bullies might do if they found
out. The other reason mentioned is that being bullied can
make victims feel hopeless and feeling this way it would
be even harder for the bullied child to tell.
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Article details
K Sullivan (2000)
'The Anti-Bullying Handbook', Oxford and New Zealand: Oxford
University Press. For order details see here.
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Author details
Dr Keith Sullivan
is based at the School
of Education at Victoria University of Wellington in
New Zealand. Over a number of years he has been involved
in anti-bullying research in New Zealand, Australia and
the UK.
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