Children's Behavior: Bullying

Bullying is a huge problem in today’s society. In fact, schools across the country are now launching programs aimed at stopping bullying on school grounds. Of course, no teacher, administrator or parent believes it is possible to prevent all instances of bullying. However, talking to your kids about bullying is one the best ways to communicate the importance of the issue to your kids. The following are some tips to help you as you communicate with your child about bullying:

Ask about their experience with bullying

A child that does not feel they can freely express themselves will not feel comfortable sharing details of situations occurring at school. Therefore, reaching out to your child is imperative in establishing an open line of communication. Ask them if they are ever bullied, and ask them if they ever see bullying occur. Some children may not understand exactly what bullying is, and for those kids, explaining the basics regarding bullying is a good idea. Be sure to remind kids that bullying is not always physical. In fact, most bullying is emotional and mental. 

Remove the bully bait

If after talking to your child, you discover that bullying is occurring over a certain item at school, consider removing the item if possible. For example, if your child is being bullied over their lunch money, consider prepaying for their lunch. Consequently, kids will not have to carry their lunch money, and the event of having their lunch money taken will cease to exist. Of course, there are sometimes situations or items that cannot be avoided or removed. In these cases, you and your child should decide on a plan as to how best to deal with the item or situation that triggers the bullying.

Encourage friendship

Kids in groups are rarely bullied. Therefore, encourage your child to build quality friendships in order to present a stronger front. You can help your child build friendships by allowing them to invite kids from school, church or sports out or to your house to play. This will inevitably strengthen and nurture important friendships. After they have developed these friendships, encourage your child to buddy up at school when they become fearful of a bully. This will increase your child’s confidence and decrease the instances of bullying.

Build self-esteem

Bullies tend to pick on kids who have very low self-esteem or self-worth. Therefore, helping your child to build confidence is one of the best ways to decrease bullying. Sports or other extra curricular activities are a great way to build such confidence. When kids realize they can accomplish something such as playing the piano, earning a belt in karate or scoring a soccer goal, they are less likely to have low self-confidence. 

Get outside help

If none of the above tips helps the situation, seek outside help. This could mean talking to your child’s teacher or school administrator. In some cases, when bullying is severe, it can even mean reaching out to local law enforcement. 

The above tips will help you as you guide your child through the difficult experience of bullying. When bullying becomes life threatening, parents should seek all types of help in order to rescue their child from a bullying situation.