Countering Bullying
REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS
The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011
Regulation 11 - Independent fostering agencies—duty to secure welfare
Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards:
STANDARD 1 - The child's wishes and feelings and the views of those significant to them
STANDARD 4 - Safeguarding Children
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This chapter explains the steps that foster carers and the Agency should take in recognising and dealing with bullying.
Contents
- Introduction
- Definition of Bullying
- Prevention
- Risk Assessment and Planning
- Notifications, Recording and Review
1. Introduction
Everyone involved in looking after children shares responsibility for countering bullying and for creating a culture which positively encourages acceptable behaviour and reduces or prevents the likelihood of bullying.
All children and young people have a right to feel confident that this is a safe and healthy environment.
We want to ensure that all children and young people remain safe from bullying behaviour and have the opportunity to thrive and prosper, emotionally and socially.
When bullying is encountered, the Agency will ensure that the procedures are in place to allow:
- Reporting and recording of the incident
- Having concerns or incidents of bullying properly monitored
- Ensuring appropriate action is taken in response to incidents of bullying and that these are followed up.
This will ensure that people feel listened to and understand that their concerns have been and will be taken seriously.
The Agency will provide guidance and training that encourages an understanding and appreciation of what bullying is and how it impacts on self and others.
2. Definition of Bullying
Bullying is defined as behaviour or actions of a person, group of people or a whole organisation designed to cause distress or to hurt a person or group of people.
Bullying can take place in a variety of settings including face-to-face, via other people, on the phone or the internet including social networking sites.
Bullying can be:
- Emotional - being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding possessions, threatening gestures)
- Physical - pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence
- Racist - racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
- Sexual - unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments and harassment
- Homophobic or remarks about gender identity - because of, or focusing on, the issue of sexuality
- Verbal - name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
- Online/cyberbullying - e.g. using mobile phones or social networking sites to intimidate or bully others. Online bullying can follow the child wherever they go, via social networks, gaming and mobile phones. Cyberbullying includes:
- Abusive messages or threats via social media, email, or messaging apps
- Sharing private images without consent
- Impersonation accounts
- AI-generated harassment (e.g., deepfakes, fake messages)
- Online exclusion or coordinated harassment.
An Ofsted thematic review (Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges (Ofsted)) identified substantial levels of sexual harassment for both girls (90%) and boys (nearly 50%) and that in a number of schools this went unreported as a result of the school's 'culture' – a part of which appeared to be that staff were not aware; did not countenance that this could happen, and because once it was discussed (the children) feared the process would be out of their control.
Sexual harassment and sexual violence exist on a continuum and may overlap. Where the latter occurs, there could be a criminal offence committed.
This would also include actions such as creating or sharing explicit images of a child which is illegal, even if the person doing it is a child. A young person is breaking the law if they:
- Take an explicit photo or video of themselves or a friend
- Share an explicit image or video of a child, even if it's shared between children of the same age
- Possess, download or store an explicit image or video of a child, even if the child gave their permission for it to be created.
However, if a young person is found creating or sharing images, the police can choose to record that a crime has been committed but that taking formal action is not in the public interest.
With effect from 29 June 2021, section 69 Domestic Abuse Act 2021 expanded so-called 'revenge porn' to include threats to disclose private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.
Where the Agency or foster carer is concerned that a child they have care of is being bullied, or is bullying, they should consider whether a criminal offence has or is being committed, and discuss it further with the child's social worker (see also Section 4, Risk Assessment and Planning).
Bullying can have a detrimental effect on a child or young person's wellbeing and can lead to poor self-esteem, depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Foster carers must take bullying seriously.
3. Regulatory Duties Placed on Online Platforms to Keep Children Safe
The Online Safety Act 2023 places legal duties on "regulated services" (social media platforms, search services and similar) to keep users, especially children, safe online. Each regulated service must assess the risks its platform poses, take proportionate steps to prevent users encountering illegal content, remove illegal content when it appears, and apply age-appropriate measures to protect children from content harmful to them. Ofcom is the independent regulator and may impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. Ofcom has been able to enforce the illegal-content duties since 17 March 2025 (Online Safety Act 2023).
3.1 Child Safety and ‘Bullying Content’
From 25 July 2025, platforms have a legal duty to protect children online and must prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content such as bullying, hateful content and content which encourages dangerous stunts or ingesting dangerous substances; they must also provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems when they arise (Online Safety Act (GOV.UK)). "Bullying content" is named in the Act as a category of "priority content that is harmful to children." Under Ofcom's framework, providers of services likely to be accessed by children had risk assessments due by 24 July 2025 and mitigation measures applying from 25 July 2025. From that date they must mitigate the risk of children encountering bullying and other harmful content, allow users to report such content easily, and operate a complaints procedure (Protection of children duties under the Online Safety Act (Ofcom)).
3.2 Individual Communications Offences
Part 10 of The Online Safety Act 2023 created new communications offences that apply directly to the individual sending the message (in force from 31 January 2024). Those most relevant to the online bullying and harassment of children are:
- False communications (s.179): sending a message the sender knows to be false, intending to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, without reasonable excuse.
- Threatening communications (s.181): sending a message conveying a threat of death or serious harm, where the sender intends, or is reckless as to whether, the recipient will fear it will be carried out.
- Sending or showing flashing images electronically (s.183): "epilepsy trolling" — intended to cause harm to a person with epilepsy.
- Encouraging or assisting serious self-harm (s.184): since designated a priority offence, meaning platforms must take proactive measures against this content.
3.3 Intimate-image offences (amendments to the Sexual Offences Act 2003)
The Online Safety Act 2023 strengthened the law on the non-consensual taking and sharing of intimate images by amending the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It created:
- Cyberflashing (s.187): intentionally sending or giving a photograph or film of any person's genitals to another person, either intending that they see the genitals and be caused alarm, distress or humiliation, or for sexual gratification and reckless as to whether such alarm, distress or humiliation is caused. 5KBW
- Sharing, or threatening to share, an intimate photograph or film without consent (s.188): The baseline sharing offence no longer requires proof that the perpetrator intended to cause distress; it is enough that the person shares the image, the subject does not consent, and the sharer does not reasonably believe there is consent. Brett Wilson LLP
Both offences expressly cover images that "show, or appear to show," a person in an intimate state, which means they capture sexually explicit "deepfakes" and other digitally manipulated images (Sexual Offences Act 2003).
Where children are involved, such conduct must be treated as a safeguarding and child-protection concern as well as a potential crime, and reported to the Police.
3.4 Indecent images of children
Where the images are of a child under 18, the creation, possession or sharing of nude or semi-nude images may also amount to offences under the indecent-images-of-children legislation. Staff should follow the UKCIS guidance Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings (GOV.UK), recognising that the appropriate response may differ:
- Consensual sharing between older children of a similar age may not be abusive, but the children still need to understand that it is illegal.
- Non-consensual sharing is both illegal and abusive.
4. Prevention
Everyone involved in looking after children shares responsibility for countering bullying and for creating a culture which positively encourages acceptable behaviour and reduces or prevents the likelihood of bullying.
The Agency's statement of purpose will include its strategy for dealing with and reporting bullying. The children's guide should also contain information and advice on countering bullying.
Foster carers must be alert to the risk of bullying and should take all reasonable steps to prevent such behaviour. In order to help achieve this, each foster home should have its own strategies for countering bullying, and this should be reflected in the foster carer's safer caring policy.
This will include:
- Implementing clear rules within the household that bullying is not acceptable and what measures will be taken if the foster carers suspect bullying or it is reported to them
- Providing clarity to children on acceptable and unacceptable online behaviours
- Providing opportunities for children to explore issues of bullying e.g. writing stories or poems or drawing pictures about bullying
- Encouraging children to read stories about bullying or reading such stories to them
- Having discussions about bullying and why it matters
- Being good role models as foster carers.
5. Risk Assessment and Planning
If foster carers have any concerns that incidents of bullying have occurred between children within the foster home or that a child in the foster placement may be a victim or the individual displaying bullying behaviours of bullying at school or elsewhere outside the foster home, they must discuss these with their supervising social worker, who should advise on what actions are necessary to reduce or prevent it.
When bullying occurs within the foster home, it may be appropriate to convene a meeting, preferably with the child or children concerned, to discuss strategies to prevent or reduce the bullying. The outcomes of the meeting may include the following:
- The bully (bullies) may be asked to genuinely apologise
- In serious cases, some form of sanction will be considered
- If possible, the children concerned will be reconciled
- After the incident/incidents have been investigated and dealt with, there will be continuously monitoring to ensure repeated bullying does not take place.
If the bullying is persistent or serious, the social worker should be consulted and it may be necessary to conduct a placement planning meeting or a referral may be required under the Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedure and a strategy discussion/meeting convened.
6. Notifications, Recording and Review
6.1 Minor or Non-Persistent Bullying
Where bullying is not persistent or not serious, the foster carers should notify the supervising social worker at the first opportunity; the supervising social worker will decide whether to inform the child's social worker and what further action to take.
6.2 Persistent or Serious Bullying
Serious or persistent bullying must be notified immediately to the supervising social worker and the Agency, who will notify the child's social worker within one working day. Consideration will be given to whether a Child Protection Referral should be made, if so, see Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedure, or indeed whether a criminal offence has been committed. See also: Education Procedure.
6.3 Recording and Review
The foster carer must record all incidents of bullying in the daily records of the child who is the alleged victim and the child who is the alleged bully.
The child's placement plan should be reviewed with a view to incorporating strategies to reduce or prevent future incidents. Specialist support may be considered from outside of the placement to the child or young person to help them come to terms with what they have experienced and increase their self-esteem.
7. Further Information/Specialist Support
See also: Advice for Parents and Carers on Cyberbullying (Department for Education, 2015).
Protection of Children Duties under the Online Safety Act
Specialist Organisations:
- The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA): Founded in 2002 by NSPCC and National Children's Bureau, the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) brings together over 100 organisations into one network to develop and share good practice across the whole range of bullying issues
- Kidscape: Charity established to prevent bullying and promote child protection providing advice for young people, professionals and parents about different types of bullying and how to tackle it. They also offer specialist training and support for school staff, and assertiveness training for young people
- The BIG Award: The Bullying Intervention Group (BIG) offer a national scheme and award for schools to tackle bullying effectively.
Cyberbullying:
- ChildNet International: Specialist resources for young people to raise awareness of online safety and how to protect themselves
- CEOP Education: Resources provided by Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) for children and young people, parents, carers and teachers
- Advice on Child Internet Safety: The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) has produced universal guidelines for providers on keeping children safe online.
LGBT:
- Schools Out: Offers practical advice, resources (including lesson plans) and training to schools on LGBT equality in education
- Stonewall: An LGB equality organisation with considerable expertise in LGB bullying in schools, a dedicated youth site, resources for schools, and specialist training for teachers.
SEND:
- Mencap: Represents people with learning disabilities, with specific advice and information for people who work with children and young people
- Changing Faces: Provide online resources and training to schools on bullying because of physical difference
- Cyberbullying and Children and Young People with SEN and Disabilities: Advice provided by the Anti-Bullying Alliance on developing effective anti-bullying practice.
Racism:
- Show Racism the Red Card: Provide resources and workshops for schools to educate young people, often using the high profile of football, about racism
- Kick it Out: Uses the appeal of football to educate young people about racism and provide education packs for schools
- Anne Frank Trust: Runs a schools project to teach young people about Anne Frank and the Holocaust, the consequences of unchecked prejudice and discrimination, and cultural diversity.