Hints on Protecting Your Child Against Bullying

Bullying as we discussed earlier can either be verbal, physical or psychological. Where they are not physical, parents most times might not know what their children are going through. It is, therefore, necessary that we understand the signs we should be on the lookout for to identify whether our kids are being bullied. This part also gives us ideas of what to do to either prevent bullying from happening or from stopping it.

• Look out for physical signs of bullying like rough shirts, bruises that look out of place (that is those that could not have been gotten from normal play)
• Where your child becomes jittery, anxious or disinterested in things that normally hold his interests
• Where he shows anxiety at going to school or discussing school experience
• Talk to your child to find out what his problem is; be patient as most times they would hardly open up the first time. Reassure him that nothing will happen to him if he opens up to you on his experience
• Play it cool no matter how disturbing the news might be; you don’t want to scare your child from telling you more in the future
• Make your child understand that he is not alone; that bullying while being part of growing up, is not acceptable behavior
• Talk to the bully’s parents if you know them, if the bullying is at school, talk to the teachers first, and if need be, then the parents with the teachers in attendance; never you approach the bully yourself as you may fly off the handle and cause more damage
• Advise your child not to fight back; he should rather avoid the bully
• He should also try to have a mate when they go to places where such bullying happens
• He should not give in to crying as the bully will think he has gotten the better of him
• Identify the incentive of the bullying; if your kids lunch money, let him go to school with his lunch or vice versa
• Above all, keep an eye on the situation to avoid your kid being depressed