Ask Us: Telling An Adult - Episode 21

In this week's episode of PACERTalks About Bullying, we are excited to launch another Ask Us feature, where we answer questions from K-12th grade students about bullying. This week’s question comes from Dawn, a high school student, who wants to know what to do if you feel like you can't tell your parents about bullying. If you’re a student and want the chance to be featured in this series, email your question (written or in a video) to [email protected].

Transcript

>> Hey there, welcome back to PACERTalks about Bullying, I'm Bailey, we're glad you're here.

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This week we're excited to release another edition of Ask Us, where we answer questions from students around the country about all things bullying. This week's question comes from Dawn, a high school student, so let's hear what she wants to know.

>> Hi, my name is Dawn and my question is, what happens when I can't tell my parents about a bullying situation?

>> This is such an important question Dawn, and I'm glad that you asked it because talking with an adult about bullying isn't always the simplest thing to do. Studies show that about 57% of students don't report bullying to an adult and that could be for a lot of different reasons. Maybe they think they have to handle it on their own, maybe they're worried that their parents might over react, or maybe they think that no one will listen. These are all completely valid concerns to have; however, there's a few things to keep in mind.

The first important thing to note is that you can talk with any adult that you trust about a bullying situation. If you don't feel comfortable sharing with your parents initially, your first step could be reaching out to another adult that you trust, like a teacher, a coach, a guidance counselor, a neighbor, a relative. It's important that you're able to share what's been happening and have someone else in your team. Together, you can develop an action plan and that action plan can include ideas on how to tell your parents about what's happening.

Another important thing to note is that, when talking with an adult, start by sharing the details that you feel comfortable with, as it can be hard to share your entire story the first time you talk with them, then continue the conversation. Often, the more you talk about it, the better you feel, and hopefully, the more comfortable and confident you become in sharing details so adults really can understand your experience and know how to best support you. If you're worried about your parents overreacting, let them know that you're not asking them to fix the problem, but that you want their help and support in finding a solution. If you want to try and handle it on your own at first, let them know that. Share that you want their ideas and their support, but that you want to take the first steps on your own.

And finally, if you're worried that they might not listen, remember that bullying is a big deal. If you reach out to an adult and don't get help, try asking someone else and keep reaching out until you get the support that you deserve. There are people that care and that want to help you. As you can see, there's many reasons you might not want to tell an adult about a bullying situation, and you have every right to feel this way. But remember this, if you're being bullied, you don't deserve this, and you don't have to go through it alone.

That wraps up this week's episode of PACERTalks about Bullying. Thanks so much to Dawn for sending in such a great question this week. If you're a student and you have a question about bullying, all you have to do is send us your question; it can be in a video or written, to [email protected] and you'll have the chance to be featured in an upcoming episode. We'll see you write back here next week, and remember together we can create a world without bullying. See ya.

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