Bullying is one of the major problems experienced by several kids. It can happen anywhere, like the park, in a playground, at school, or online. When someone is intentionally hurting others physically, verbally, or emotionally, it is a sign of bullying. Some of the examples of bullying are:
- Excluding someone from a group on purpose
- Threatening
- spreading rumors
- Embarrassing someone in public
- Telling other friends not to be friends with a particular child
- Being rude or mean
- Hitting/ pushing/ pinching/ tripping
- Name-calling or taunting
Bullying is more than teasing. It makes the victim feel uncomfortable and anxious. Though all kids are not bullies, there are some kids who try to dominate/control or blame others, show no empathy, and crave power and attention. There could be many reasons for such behavior. Some of the reasons could be:
- It is possible that they learn this behavior at home
- Watching similar behavior in adults close to them
- They could have been bullied by others
- Jealousy
- To please the crowd of friends they want to stay with.
It is important that we arm our children against bullying. Because it leaves long-lasting effects on a child who is bullied and nobody deserves to be bullied. Every child has the right to be safe and respected. Here are a few ways, that could be helpful to equip your child against bullying:
- Help your child know what bullying is, by communicating about the signs of bullying. This helps them identify such behavior when they see it happening to themselves or their friends.
- Encourage your child to talk to you about school or online activities. Listen with patience and respond to your child’s concerns positively.
- Empower your child by letting him/her know, how you can support the child and that it is okay to express their feelings and negative experiences to you.
- It is important that we lead by example, as kids learn from our actions. If we always keep complaining about being victimized and show we are helpless, it could encourage kids to have a similar attitude toward their challenges.
- Teach them about staying safe when online.
Bullying can have a negative impact on the health and happiness of children. It is necessary to teach our kids, that certain kind of behavior is unacceptable. Instead of waiting for our children to open up someday when they go through bad experiences, we must make it a point to stay connected with them by checking once in a while, about how are things going on and is there anything they would like to share?
This Post Has 4 Comments
I face this issue when i was in school but i was too scared to discuss this with my parents. Thanks for the information.
Thank you Kaisar for sharing your experience. Yes, kids dont easily open up about such experiences sometimes. It’s important to reassure them that it’s ok to express their negative experiences and feelings.
Yes Rancy we all have gone through bullying in some stage of our life. With experience and confidence we can tackle this issue to some extent. Confiding with friends and family can be helpful too.
I agree with your comment. It’s important not to ignore the matter, but inform a trusted adult.