Julie Jay: Nobody wants their child to be a bully — or to be bullied

Our kids will most likely alternate between being a victim of bullying at some point and a proponent too, because such is the way of humans

Julie Jay: As a former teacher, I’ve witnessed prodding and slagging and things going too far. I always felt for the bully’s parents too, because ultimately all we want is for our kids to play nice, be kind, and make everyone feel important. It must be heartbreaking to hear that your child is giving another child a hard time.

A few weeks ago, Ted pushed somebody in the playground. More confusingly, the recipient of this push was a child he usually gets on great with. Though I hadn’t seen what had precipitated the incident, I marched him home immediately (given that we live approximately five feet from the playground, this is a lot less dramatic than it sounds).

I ushered Ted into the sitting room and sat my husband down in the kitchen for a chat. I told him about the incident and advised him not to panic. That this was totally normal, within the scheme of things, and we shouldn’t overreact.