As parents, we feel worried each time we hear of bullying, and stories for kids are a good way of helping them understand bullying. Realizing that our child or teenager can be a target for bullying at school scares us. It can be just as difficult if your child is reported to have been the bully. Bullying stories for kids can be beneficial in understanding the problems and solutions, so many schools have decided to take measures to address the problem that is often a daily occurrence in their own school.

If you feel the need to seek help outside the school or if you are a bully victim who is hesitant to tell your parents or school authorities about your problem, you can search for bullying stories for kids online. Many websites offer valuable information and you can also find dedicated discussion board threads of a community of people who seek help, and to offer help with the same problem you are having. This can be your support group.

Parents can help end or lessen the problems associated with bullying by monitoring if their children are possibly being bullied or if they are the ones doing the bullying. Their children’s use of technology, whether internet or other devices, should also be checked regularly, to avoid bad influences that may lead to behavior problems, including cyber bullying.

We sometimes hear of forgiveness stories regarding bullying. But how easy can it be to forgive people who helped perpetuate cruelty on others? We grow up being taught to practice cooperation, kindness, decency, compassion and compromise. If someone has shown us disrespect and cruelty, we find it hard to forgive unless they are truly sorry and want to change. We only forgive remorseful bullies. Forgiving and releasing the grudge liberates us from the heaviness of heart involved with being bullied.

Bullies are aggressors who use the illusion of power when they have the opportunity just to prove that they are superior. Understanding the bully can help make us decide how to deal with them. We say it’s hard to understand how making people suffer can be satisfying to a bully and ask ourselves how can someone inflict pain on others just because the victims are vulnerable and there is an opportunity to humiliate or hurt them? How can inflicting pain give satisfaction to anybody? Often we don’t realize the bully is hurting too, and is often a victim in another way, seeking to relieve their own struggles by projecting them onto others.

Forgiveness stories show an example of overcoming good with evil. When we forgive a repentant wrongdoer, it frees us from the burden of having to carry ill-feelings as much as it frees the offender of guilt. If we don’t understand the bully, it is hard to learn to forgive him. Forgiveness stories do not only involve forgiving the aggressor. Victims should also forgive themselves for the weakness and shame they felt as victims.

Kids bullying one another shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a normal part of growing up. Neither should it be treated as just a ‘harmless rite of passage’. While bullying between siblings may be harmless and playful, bullying in general can have many negative effects on both the bully and the victim, and is a serious problem. The consequences can be far-reaching and damaging. Sometimes, the damage on the victims of kids bullying is long-term and affects nearly every part of their lives from emotional well being to career success. Kids bullying can sometimes affect the victims’ adult lives. The damage can have negative consequences for health, relationships and careers later in life.

Some bullying survivors find it difficult to keep a job when they become adults. They can also have more psychiatric troubles than those who were not bullied. Other ill-effects of kids bullying include low self-esteem, poor grades, physical health issues, depression, anxiety and panic attacks that could develop into mental and behavior problems in adulthood like increased risks for depressive, anxiety and panic disorder.

Unless parents and school authorities act on the bullying problems that are happening now, the psychological damage will continue to proliferate. We need to improve intervention strategies to curb this form of oppression that’s happening. Correcting the problem of kids bullying can help reduce human suffering and create a more suitable environment for our kids growing up.

I recently was asked to be a guest blogger for the Fairy God Blogger and was happy to do so.  She is incredible and I was honored to be asked to participate.  Below is the first part of my post and then you can click over to her site to read the full blog!

Guest Blog:

Bill King
writer, parent, stink expert

How do you engage kids and their parents with your book?
Humor.  Next question?  Seriously, I have discovered that kids, and most of us for that matter, tend to be more engaged when the topic is relevant and provides a bit of humor.

Let’s get real, we all suffer from negative thinking, and there’s nothing that can be done to eliminate it completely.  Humor and relevancy are the keys to keeping a book in hands versus garbage cans.  Keeping kids engaged isn’t an easy task when writing non-fiction, that’s for sure. However, when done properly, it can actually be quite transformational for both child and parent.

Click here to checkout the full blog post and a bit of wisdom from the Fairy God Blogger.

With gratitude,
Bill

If you missed me live on Coach Café, you can click here to listen to the OnDemand version!  We talked about a whole bunch of STINKIN’ stuff and a few more serious topics like stories about bullying and the consequences of negative thinking.

It was a great show and thank you so very much to Kathleen and Estra for being Super Cool hosts!

With gratitude,
Bill

Facebook used to rally 100 to stand behind boy being bullied – SALEM, Ore. – Friday was a rare day when a kid who’s been picked on confronted his bully with the support of 100 people who showed up to rally for him.  It started as a single Facebook message posted by Halsey Parkerson’s aunt.  She went to South Salem High School on Thursday to meet him for lunch. She overheard the bully telling her nephew that he doesn’t have any friends and that no one cares.  Click here to read the full story!

Here’s more information on bullying from the Pacer Organization and so I thought I would share.  “If not now, then when? If not me, then who?” Hillel the Elder

With 1 in 3 children being bullied at school, chances are it’s happening to someone you know and care about. YOU can do something to help, and it’s as simple as snapping a picture!

Here’s how you can help:

  1. Find something orange to wear on Unity Day, October 9th. You can wear orange shirts, pants, hats, beads, bands, face paint, hair dye – be creative!
  2. Wear orange on October 9th to “Make it Orange, Make it End!”
  3. On October 9th, share your commitment to bullying prevention with the world by posting photos of your Unity Day activities to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with #UnityDay2013!
  4. Watch the movement grow as posts tagged with #UnityDay2013 show up on our homepage, www.pacer.org/bullying.

Be a part of a social movement and show your support for bullying prevention! Join us on Unity Day by tagging your posts with#UnityDay2013!

Learn more about Unity Day.

With peace and gratitude, Bill

What do you think of the back cover of STINKIN’ THINKIN’ STINKS: A Kid’s Guide to the Lighter Side of Life?  Pretty nifty, huh?  You might think that this is a bit odd name compared to other books on positive thinking, but I think it’s STINKIN’ cool!

With peace and gratitude,
Bill

Back Cover Text

What would happen if Negative Thoughts  and Actions smelled bad?  If they STANK?  Would we notice them more?  Would we be less inclined to indulge in them?

Attributing bad smells to our various negative thoughts, actions, and attitudes, In STINKIN’ THINKIN’ STINKS Bill King provides both young readers and their older friends with techniques to recognize, deal with, and mitigate the negativity that holds so many of us back.  Readers will:

  • Become aware of negative thought patterns
    ·         Discover ways to eliminate negative thinking
    ·         Learn how to avoid negative pack mentality
    ·         Access the positive in life
    ·         Develop techniques for dealing with negative people and situations
    ·         Embrace positivity as the dominant way of thinking

Full of fun activities designed to provide kids with real tools for changing negative habits, STINKIN’ THINKIN’ STINKS     offers a fun new approach to exterminating negativity while inviting YOU to change YOUR LIFE!  STINKIN’ THINKIN’ STINKS will inspire discussion, introspection, and change in all ages of readers.

IDS_Stickers_cardWe WANT you!  Calling all writers and bloggers.  Here is your opportunity to get exposure while also making a positive difference in the world!  I believe that my new book, STINKIN’ THININ’ STINKS is one of the most powerful positive thinking books for kids ever written.  It is fun, entertaining yet provides real exercises that they will actually use.

Go to https://idontstink.com/authors_wanted/ to read more about what the book is about and how YOU can get involved.

With peace and gratitude,
Bill

I am very excited to say that yesterday I placed the advanced order for my new book, STINKIN’ stinkin_thinkin_book-coverTHINKIN’ STINKS: A Kid’s Guide to the Lighter Side of Life.  I received the first hardcopy and made a few minor changes and now we are ready to go! SaWEET!  Release date is October 29, 2013!

This has been quite a long project for me.  It is actually the longest project I have ever worked on, by far.  I would like to invite you to help me get the word our on October 29, 2013.  Check out https://idontstink.com/authors_wanted/ to see how you can help me.  We CAN and WILL have a positive impact on the lives of lots of people.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

While this may not be considered specifically one of the books on bullying, it does provide tools and technique to help deal with it.  It also does address a few forms of bullying.  For more information about bullying, click on the “Bullying STINKS” barrel on the left side of the page.

With total gratitude,
Bill