- 16 Dec, 2025
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- 4 Mins Read
Understanding Bullying in Preschool
Preschool bullying often looks different than bullying amongst older children. While Early Childhood teachers may hesitate to label certain behaviours as “bullying” at this age, actions like hitting, name-calling, exclusion from games, and rumour-spreading are seen in early childhood settings and can cause distress. Because preschoolers are still developing emotional and social skills, these episodes of aggression are usually direct and overt but no less impactful on a child’s self-esteem and sense of safety1.
Indeed, early negative experiences can erode children’s confidence, hinder their enjoyment of school, and affect their readiness for learning.
The role of parents, teachers and school counsellors
The prevention and management of bullying in preschools is not a solo effort — parents, teachers, and school counsellors each play vital roles.
Parents: Many aren’t yet aware of the social challenges their children face at school, which can make it harder to spot or prevent bullying behaviours or related anxieties. Building awareness through communication and targeted education helps parents catch early warning signs and support their child’s social readiness2.
Teachers: As the front line of observation, teachers need strong training to identify bullying and to create inclusive, emotionally safe classrooms. Positive classroom management and modelling kindness set the tone for all children3.
School Counsellors: Counsellors can offer proactive support—like guidance sessions and early intervention group, helping both children who struggle with aggression and those who feel excluded to develop social skills and emotional understanding4.
Evidence-based strategies to fight bullying
Research, field observations, and real-world experience point to several proven ways to combat bullying in preschool environments:
Early education and awareness
Regular professional training for teachers, age-appropriate storytelling, and classroom role-play about empathy lay the foundation for prosocial behaviour5.
Parent-teacher collaboration
Ongoing communication between parents and educators ensures consistent responses if a child is struggling. Structured parenting programs and home-school partnerships boost children’s social adjustment6.
Classroom climate and management
Clearly communicated expectations, immediate consequences for aggression, and lots of praise for teamwork shape a positive classroom culture. Teachers should watch playground and transition times closely—these are common hotspots for conflict7.
Proactive school counsellor involvement
Counsellors should meet children and parents early, offer orientation, and establish themselves as allies children can go to for help. Groups that focus on friendship-building and social emotional learning can make a lasting difference8.
Clear and developmentally appropriate policies
Preschools need policies that spell out what bullying looks like for young children and give staff and families clear procedures for reporting, responding, and supporting all involved9.
The role of prevention programs
Programs like You Can Sit With Me offer a concrete way to embed these strategies in the daily life of a preschool. You Can Sit With Me is a dedicated kindness and sharing initiative for early learners, helping children feel welcome, included, and happy while playing.
By encouraging children to invite others with phrases like You can share with me, and by incorporating kindness into group time, stories, and play, the program:
Helps children develop empathy and positive relationships
Provides visual prompts and routine reflection questions to make kindness a visible and regular part of the day
Models inclusion, respect, and celebration of effort not just compliance
Invites families to support and extend the message at home, fostering consistency
You Can Sit With Me aligns with Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) outcomes, supporting the development of personal and social skills, a strong sense of identity, resilience, and compassion. Its approach ensures anti-bullying efforts are both developmentally appropriate and practical for real preschool environments.
Find out more about our program for preschool.
Challenges and opportunities
Bolstering anti-bullying culture in preschools comes with hurdles:
Staff may struggle to define or recognize bullying in young children (Martelli et al., 2025)
Many educators and counsellors lack formal training in bullying prevention and social-emotional teaching10
Engaging all parents, especially those from diverse backgrounds or with limited school experience, is an ongoing challenge11
Effective prevention is not a single conversation—it depends on sustained effort and partnership among staff, families, and support professionals12
Building safer, kinder preschools
Reducing bullying in preschool requires early, consistent, and coordinated action by everyone involved. Evidence-based peer-led programs like You Can Sit With Me provide teachers, parents, and counsellors with simple, structured tools to encourage empathy, sharing, and emotional safety right from the start. With the right support, even the youngest learners can discover how to be a good friend and help others belong.
YOU CAN SIT WITH ME is an inclusive, evidence-based, peer-led program reducing school refusal, social isolation, bullying, exclusion and non-inclusive behaviour.
YOU CAN SIT WITH ME provides free programs for schools, sporting clubs and community groups.
Please consider supporting education for children across Australia. Your generous, fully tax deductible donation can help make a real difference in many young lives. Thank you for your kindness.
You Can Sit With Me has been recognised as a “Tier 1 Preventative Program” in the Australian Government’s Anti‑Bullying Rapid Review Final Report.
References
[1, 5, 7, 9] Martelli, I., Grand, E., Dewandre, A., Habib, M., & Villemonteix, T. (2025). Does Bullying Occur in Preschool? A Survey of French Preschool Workers’ Perceptions and Beliefs About Bullying. International Journal of Bullying Prevention. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-025-00304-6
[2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10] Mutlu, S., & Kosan, Y. (2025). School Refusal Behaviors in Preschool Students: Insights from Parents, Teachers, and School Counselors. School Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-025-09821-7
[5, 12] Rahmawati, R., Hodijah, D. S., Ihsanda, N., Susiyani, N., Sugiarti, S., & Tya, S. (2024). Teachers’ Strategies: Can It Prevent Bullying to Early Childhoods in Preschool Education? Journal Corner of Education, Linguistics, and Literature, 3(4), 368–376. https://doi.org/10.54012/jcell.v3i4.287
[6, 7, 11] Yosep, I., Mardhiyah, A., Hazmi, H., & Hikmat, R. (2025). Exploring nursing interventions in family-based approaches for preventing bullying among children and adolescents: a scoping review. BMC Nursing, 24(1), Article 601. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03221-7