international school autumn 26 FINAL

“What if my child is being bullied and I don’t know how to protect them here?” WRITTEN BY KARLIJN JACOBS, EXPAT VALLEY BIG QUESTIONS OF LIFE ABROAD

and we do not know how to protect them in this country, culture, and school system we do not understand?” WHY BULLYING IS THAT MUCH HARDER ABROAD Finding a way to help our child who is being bullied is always difficult. But when a family is living internationally, there are a

brought from home. Kento’s parents were heartbroken, but also confused. They were unsure whether this was ordinary adjustment, teasing, a cultural misunderstanding, exclusion, or outright bullying. The big question keeping them up at night was:

11-year-old Kento from Tokyo had always been a cheerful and adaptable boy. When his family relocated to the UK for his father’s job 4 months ago, Kento was excited and ready to make new friends at his international school. Instead, Kento became more withdrawn and finally shared that classmates were laughing at his accent and teasing him about the lunches he

“What if our child is being bullied –

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PARENT AUTUMN 2026 | 54

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