Parents should nofy the school each me their child
reports that they have been bullied at school. A
conversaon with the classroom teacher could be a
good place to start to address a bullying issue. While
talking with the school regarding the bullying incident
can be eecve, consider pung it in wring. Wrien
communicaon is important for creang a record.
There are two opons for reporng a bullying incident
to school ocials:
1. Request a bullying complaint form from the
school. Each school must have a process for reporng
an act of bullying or harassment. A bullying complaint
form can be used as a way for the child and/or parent to
report bullying to the school. This form is typically
available at the school and on the school’s website. Fill
out the form, make a copy for yourself, and submit the
original to school ocials.
2. Put your concerns in wring to the school detailing
the incident. Consider using the sample leer within
this document to provide important details to the
school.
Your communicaon should include:
• your child’s name;
• the date and locaon of incident;
• details including: who was involved, what
happened, how oen;
• witnesses to the incident;
• the impact of the incident on your child-
physically, emoonally and academically; and
• what has already been tried to stop the problem.
The communicaon should remain factual and absent of
opinions or emoonal statements and should be sent to
the Principal or school administrators. Request that the
school send you a copy of their bullying policy and
request that they follow-up with you about the bullying
incident.
These opons for reporng and documenng a bullying
incident serve two important purposes:
• Noes school ocials of the incident and your
desire for intervenon; and
• Serves as your wrien record when referring to
the incident.
Keep a copy of any wrien communicaon you send to
the school regarding the incident. Doing so will help to
keep a meline of events. If your original reporng was
sent electronically (email or text), consider sending a
hard copy to create a wrien record.
How can I empower my child?
It is important for junior high and high school students
to understand the most eecve way to report a
bullying incident to school ocials. Students may not
always tell adults if they are being bullied therefore it is
important to empower the child with informaon on
how to report the bullying incident themselves.
Help your child to understand that while telling school
ocials is important, documenng the incident on an
ocial complaint form is the most eecve way to
report a bullying incident.
Related Resources
Look for the following related resources on the ASK
website:
• Iowa’s An-Bullying Law
How to Report Bullying to School/
Sample Leer
© ASK Resource Center, 2023 | Phone (515) 243-1713 | Toll-free (800) 450-8667 | askresource.org
This publicaon was developed with funds under grants from the U.S. Dept. of Educaon and
the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. The contents do not necessarily represent the
policy of those Departments, and the reader should not assume endorsement by the Federal
Government. ASK Resource Center is a member of the Parent to Parent USA Alliance, and also
serves as Iowa's Family Voices State Aliate Organizaon.
ASK Essenal Quesons
• Have I gathered the informaon I need to report
the bullying incident to the school?
• Have I put my concerns in wring?