How to Deal with Your Child’s Bullying?

Observing your child’s behavioral pattern will help you know when something odd happens. He/ she might dread going to class, have some bruises or ask for more lunch money. If you see the telltale signs that include fear and inferiority, you need to step in to avoid him/ her from feeling segregated and insecure. This will avoid the development and growth of your child.

Kids tease each other in friendly ways, once it becomes hurtful and constant then that is bullying. Bullying is either verbal, physical and psychological.We see a lot of cross-gender bullying – like boy bullying girl at school or harassing girls – occurs in later elementary school grades than early classes.

If you suspect your child is being bullied and don’t know how to be sure, then look for an advert in the newspaper and ask him what he would do in a similar situation. Make sure your child knows that he needs to talk to someone like you or a school guidance teacher being bullied.

• Talk to your child: Encourage your child to open up and talk about their experiences with bullying. Listen actively and provide emotional support.
• Document the incidents: Keep a record of the incidents, including the date, time, location, and any witnesses. This information will be helpful when discussing the situation with the school.
• Contact the school: Schedule a meeting with your child’s teacher, principal, or counselor to discuss the situation and come up with a plan to address the bullying.
• Teach your child how to respond: Teach your child how to stand up for themselves in a calm and assertive manner. Encourage them to use “I” statements, such as “I do not like it when you call me names”.
• Encourage them to seek support: Let your child know that it’s okay to seek help from trusted adults, such as a teacher or counselor.
• Help them build self-confidence: Help your child build self-confidence by encouraging them to try new things and by praising them for their accomplishments.
• Seek outside help: Consider seeking professional counseling or therapy if your child is struggling with the bullying.
• Stay involved: Stay involved in your child’s life and continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the bullying has stopped.

What is the main cause of bullying in schools ?

Students mainly faces 03 kinds of bullying: direct bullying, indirect bullying and cyber bullying.

Direct bullying means students being bullied physically and verbally.

Indirect bullying is the kind of bullying that involves verbal bullying. Like spreading rumors

Cyber-bullying is the third kind where a bully attack on internet and on social media of any student.

There are many reasons of bullying. Bully can target any student without having consideration of their religion, race, gender or socioeconomic status.

As per behavioral science religion, fighting games movies, differences in s*xual orientation, physical appearance and home up bringing are the main causes of bullying.Students who are weak in self confidence, are more likely to face bullying.

More details here Reddit Bullying at School

How to empower your child ?

When your child comes to open up to you about being a bullying victim, the best thing to do is to be an amazing listener and show support. A child will not open up if he/ she feels like he/she will be seen as an embarrassment. Show some love and assure him that there’s more love to give.

Commend your child for taking the right steps to tell you about the situation.

That took a lot of courage and guarantees you to be in the loop of what exactly is happening.Alert a relevant leader in the school. After being informed, pass the information to a teacher, Headteacher or guidance counselor to allow them to observers and take care of the issue.Believe your child and take it with the same urgency that it is coming from him. Bullies can threaten a child that any report to any teacher will lead to a lot more harm. In this case, the child will also like a priority in the case.

Let your child watch and play the appropriate shows and games respectively.

Violence and gruesome PlayStation games also influence the behavior of a child. Very violent shows encourage the child to turn to physical abuse so as to defend himself.

There are many tactics to use so as to arm your child. One includes telling your daughter to look at someone’s eyes when he/ she is talking to her. This will make her look courageous and not intimidated.

Get a script and practice.

This will help your child build his/ her confidence slowly. Use a toy to symbolize the bully and go over the reaction and right comments to be uttered. If silence is the best solution, then show him/ her how to avoid a dramatic encounter.

Acknowledge the milestones and praise them.

Notice the baby steps taken to improve the bullying situation. This builds your child’s self-esteem. You may not be able to protect your child from bullies, but you can train him/her on how to react and take it. Bullying crushes one’s personality so help build your child’s and ensure that it is clear that he/she is not the problem.

For More Details you can get help from UNICF | for every child 

[This Article was published in December 2017 and Updated in Jan 2022]