Children's help-seeking behaviour

A study of children's help-seeking behaviour with respect to bullying and parental arguing is reported. A number of specific hypotheses and open-ended questions were investigated with boys and girls aged 8-17 years. Female helpers were preferred overall, though a relationship existed between the child's and helper's gender. Parents, friends, and teachers were all chosen, and parent and peer helpers were seen as complementary rather than competitive sources of help. Reasons for choosing helpers were notably varied, but largely related to perceived qualities of the helper rather than the child's own needs. Children depicted helping as an active response on the part of the helper. These findings are discussed and implications for practice noted.