Child Bullying & Legal Solutions | Thorntons Law Scotland

Being bullied can be a highly distressing experience for a child and parents can often feel powerless to help. There are steps you and your family can take to deal with the situation.

Bullying can take a variety of forms and can be direct (physical or verbal towards a person) or indirect such as ignoring someone. As well as happening in school, bullying can often happen outside school hours and online with cyber bullying.

Frequently asked questions

The following are some of our most frequently asked questions when it comes to bullying.

What can I do about my child being bullied at school?

Most schools have an anti-bullying policy which will set out how the school deals with bullying. You should alert the school’s head teacher as soon as you become aware that your child is being bullied at school. This should allow the school to take the appropriate action against the bully and/or take other steps to prevent the bullying from taking place. If your child has been subject to a physical assault, or some other criminal offence then the matter should be reported to the police.

What can I do if my child is bullied online?

Online or cyber bullying via social networking sites or mobiles is an increasing issue for many young people. There are things they and you can do as a parent to help combat it, such as flagging up offensive comments to the internet service or social network provider to have them removed or to block bullying users.

Also, such behaviour as sending abuse by email, distributing images online of someone without their consent or posting abuse about someone on a web board can be harassment. So if this has happened to your child, there may be a case to report to the police.

How can Thorntons help?

We can provide you with advice regarding bullying and how to deal with bullying in an appropriate manner. We can also advise you in respect of making a complaint or raising an action against the police, school or education authority if you feel they have breached their duties to your child.

We can also refer you to other agencies that may be able to assist you, such as Respect Me.

At Thorntons Family Law, we offer an initial free no-obligation chat over the phone to outline your options and the possible costs.

Depending on your case and circumstances, the next step is to come into one of our local offices to meet a Family Law Solicitor about your case and the way forward.

Call us on 03330 430 150 for a chat or contact us to book an appointment.

How much will it cost?

We are always clear to clients about the potential costs of any option and offer a range of payment options. In some cases we can offer clients a fixed price package. If we cannot offer a fixed price service, we charge based on the time we spend on your case, including meetings, emails, phone calls and court representations. Depending on your case and circumstances, you may also need to cover outlays, such as court costs or payments to independent experts. We will set out our fees and likely extra costs for you at the start and keep you informed of any possible changes as your case progresses.

Please note we do not offer Legal Aid for this service.