Dealing with Bullies:
Dealing with bullying, or a bully, can be difficult and traumatic for people of any age. It can cause physical and emotional harm, and damage your child for a long time to come. Emotional, verbal and electronic (online or through text messaging on cell phones) abuse can cause the same emotional and psychological effects as physical bullying. Being bullied can lead to difficulty in forming healthy personal relationships, as well as leading to depression, low self image and even suicide.
Prevention:
- Get your child's Input: He or she needs to know it's safe to come to you about being bullied. That it is not their fault that they are being bullied either.
- Talk to school authorities: Whether it's a principal, counselor, teacher or all three. Inform them where the bullying is taken place if you are aware of that. You can figure a solution out together.
- Teach your child to avoid bullies: Inform your children to walk away, avoid when possible and don't fight back.
- Be Assertive: No need to fight back but you can stand firmly and say "leave me alone".
- Practice with your child: Role play where they can figure out what to say to a bully and how to leave a situation.
- Teach child to move in groups: If the bullying is happening at school, a bully is more likely to not come at someone if they are surround in a group of their friends.