How do you document this kind of bullying behavior without sounding like you are over-reacting to something that is not considered a big deal by the school?

Here are a few suggestions that may help.

1. As soon as your child enters school, write down the name, phone and email of the school counselor for his or her grade. Update it annually.

2. Find out the cyber-bully number in your state (if there is one).

3. Take your child seriously when he/she tells you that someone is telling lies about her or him.

4. Find out how she or he is being attacked. Is it by texts, phone calls, Facebook, or in person?

• If the attack is on Facebook, tell your kid to let Facebook know about the bullying. Then have your child un-friend whoever is making these comments. Have her print out what was said for the record going forward.
• If the attack is by phone text, tell her not to respond to the texts at all. Then print out the messages, again, for the record going forward. If you back up the phone on a computer (like an iPhone on iTunes) you will have a complete set of all texts sent and received.
• If the attack shifts to the attacker calling her on the phone to tell her he/she is not threatening her, these are also threats. Tell her or him not to answer the phone call. Make a record of the calls and any messages which are left. Contact your cell phone provider for a full list of calls made and received by your teen’s cell phone. These can document a pattern of abuse.
• Then call the counselor and tell him what is going on. This is for the record.

If this works and the bully backs off, great. You can breathe a sigh of relief and feel great about teaching essential survival skills to your kid.