New Virginia bullying law; signs your children may be bullied

Principals must notify parents of bullying allegations

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ROANOKE – Bullying is one of the top concerns of parents.  There's a new Virginia law laying out when schools have to notify parents of an investigation.

Principals must notify parents of any student bullying allegation within five school days. We did some checking and found many school systems already have policies about bullying but this new legislation gives them a timeline for notification.

"With bullying it's so hard because you need to have a child understand that you're going to be dealing with bullies for the rest of your life," said Peg McGuire, the mother of two boys. "There are bullies in life and so learning how to deal with this now. You don't want to intervene too early but you also don't want to intervene too late.  There's a balance of teach the child how to handle this and letting the school handle it. There's a balance there and finding that right balance is hard but just trust your own instincts on that."

"If parents start to notice that (bullying) my advice would be to contact the school immediately. The first contact should be the school administrator.," said Taisha Steele, Roanoke city schools director of school counseling.

Steele says look for the following signs in your kids that may show they are being bullied:
-students who are withdrawn
-not talking as much as they usually do
-not wanting to go to school
-not talking with friends after school
-feelings of depression, anxiety

"We do take every report seriously, and from that point an investigation will be done," says Steele.

Steele says talk with your kids about having an adult in the school, like a teacher or counselor they can talk to.

"Just making sure that they are sharing and protecting themselves at home. When they go home, talking with a parent about what they experience and not leaving themselves open and holding things in," said Steele.

McGuire says you should also compare notes with other parents and keep a close eye on your kids especially on social media. 


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You can see Jenna weekday mornings at the anchor desk on WSLS 10 Today from 5-7 a.m. She also leads our monthly Solutionaries Series, where we highlight the creative thinkers and doers working to make the world a better place.