How to Help Your School Going Children Overcome Bullying

Bullying is one of the most prevalent social evils, and it leaves a lasting impact on the victims, especially children. In most cases, kids say that bullying takes place in school. Most cases bullying happens in school, tuitions, online or on the playground. Most of the time bullying is verbal, but sometimes it may lead to someone getting seriously hurt. If your child is being bullied, you need to find a way to put an end to it as soon as possible. There are many ways in which bullying takes place like teasing, hitting, cyber-bullying or mean gossip. It’s important to discuss bullying with your child so they are prepared if it ever happens. Let them know that they can come to you with their problems.

Identify Bullying

Being teased by a sibling or friends is not bullying, but games children play for fun. It’s not harmful if done playfully, and in a friendly and mutual way. It usually ends with both children laughing and forgetting about it very soon. When the teasing crosses a line and becomes hurtful and unkind, it turns into bullying, and needs to stop immediately. Bullying is intentionally hurting someone. It can be physical, verbal, or even psychological. Bullying needs to be taken seriously and not brushed aside as something children should deal with on their own. It’s known to have a serious effect on a child’s sense of security and self-worth. Name-calling, pushing, hitting, teasing, and, taking a child’s money are all acts of bullying. Children who are bullied are often ignored or shunned by other classmates as well.

Cyber Bullying

With the dawn of the Internet Age, bullying has moved into cyberspace now. Cyber bullying can happen anywhere, at home, email, via text, and social media websites throughout the day. For the victims, the effects can be lasting and devastating, leaving them feeling hurt, angry, humiliated, or depressed. Bullies target young, vulnerable children and taunt them to hurt their feelings. A lot of times this is done using anonymous profiles. These tips can help protect your child from cyber bullies:

1. The first step would be that the parents should learn about the Internet and be abreast of social media & it’s use.
2. Almost all websites have an minimum age requirement. Parents should pay special attention to this. Install parental control filtering software, it’s just as important for you to monitor your child’s computer.
3. Talk to your child about cyber bullying and tell them it is harmful and unacceptable. Ask them not to reply to the bully and to come to you if any stranger contacts them online or if one of their friends is being rude.
4. Ask them not to say anything online that they wouldn’t say to a person’s face.
5. Ask them to save the evidence of the cyber bullying. Keep all the abusive texts or take a screenshot of the page, and report it to the school, parents or, the concerned authorities.
6. Prevent any communication with the cyber bully. Block their email address, phone number, and delete them from all social media. Talk to them about appropriate internet behavior.
7. You can even report them to their internet service provider (ISP) or to the websites they are using to bully.

Helping Your Child Cope

1. Don’t let them blame themselves. Tell them it’s not their fault, and no matter what a bully says or does, they should not be ashamed of who they are.
2. Help them look at bullies from a different perspective. Say the bullies are unhappy and frustrated people who want to feel good by hurting you.
3. Tell them not to think about what the bully says or does.
4. Ask them to talk to an adult they trust about bullies.
5. Boost their self-confidence. Play games, exercise, crack jokes with your children.
6. Let them focus on their hobbies or do things they enjoy to help them get over what the bully said to them.

Bullying can have a lasting effect on your child so don’t let it slide. No parent wants to see their child being bullied or being a bully, but a lot of children are involved – either as a perpetrator, victim or witness. Young children are particularly vulnerable. Work with your child and his teacher if your child is being bullied till the problem stops.

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