Bullying Kids

Bullying kids can cause stress for other kids around them. They can turn a school playground into a scary event, recess time or surfing online into a negative experience for their victims. Parents should not consider this experience as a normal part of growing up because bullying affects not only the victims but also the bullying kids and even the bystanders or witnesses to bullying.

Bullying has been linked to serious health and behavioral issues including personal negative behavior and negative thoughts and feelings. It is important that parents learn to teach their kids the proper way to deal with bullying kids just like they teach their kids the other social skills as they grow up.

Parents can help kids learn how to deal with bullying if it happens. The first step would be to develop the kid’s awareness that bullying can be real, in order to understand why it happens and how to properly deal with bullying kids. The following are some of the lessons to discuss with your kids:

• Talk about bullying – What is it? Occasional teasing can be embarrassing but not bullying. Let some family members share their experiences and how they dealt with the situation.

• Keep calm and ignore bullying kids – It may be tempting to retaliate but advise kids not to fight back because it will just lead to more violence. Don’t cry because the bullying kids will see it as a sign of success. Just walk away but be sure to report the incident to a person of authority or any trusted adult.

• Have a buddy – it’s not an act of cowardice but it’s best to have a buddy in the playground, locker room, hallway and other areas where bullying are known to happen

• Report bullying teachers – Some teachers can be bullies. Teach your kids that it’s not acceptable and that you will help in reporting it to the school authorities.

Awareness and the proper reaction are two of the important countermeasures against bullying kids.