This descriptive study determined the relationship of peer bullying in the early adolescent period to family functions and children's behavior. The cohort for the research consisted of 320 students and parents who were selected by a simple random method from a middle school. The data were collected using the student and parent questionnaires, Traditional Peer Bullying Scale, Family Assessment Scale, and Assessment of Child and Adolescent Behavior Scale. In evaluating the data: descriptive statistics, Χ
2, Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and Spearman correlation analysis were used. It has been determined that verbal and physical bullying was high in the older age group (p < 0.05), in seventh‐grade students (p < 0.05), and that those who do not like school tend to bully others at a higher rate (p < 0.001). Students who were separated from their parents, who witnessed the violence among the family members, and who stated that the violence was applied by family members were more frequent in the bullying cycle (p < 0.05). There was a high‐level positive relationship between the anxiety/depression subscale and social problems subscale (p < 0.001). This study confirms that peer bullying is a problem that is highly correlated with family functionalities and child behaviors.