Learning how to bully-proof your child is a great way for parents to take an active role in protecting their child against all different types of bullying. Taking a stand against bully by learning how to bully-proof your child is a great way to prevent bullying from continuing to spread among today’s youth.
Kids and teens are prone to be getting bullied by their peers for so many reasons including their appearance, dress, academic ability, disabilities, hobbies or even their social status and parent’s financial status in the community. Kids and teens that are bullied have higher rates of suicide (also known as bullycide) and have low-self esteem, poorer academic performance and overall struggle more to succeed.
Because these repercussions of bullying are becoming more noticed by teachers, parents and other school administrators, schools and parents are taking a more active approach to helping their children become safe from bullying by heavily cracking down on the number of bullies in schools. However, not all schools are taking this active approach against bullying. This is why parents need to learn how to bully-proof their children to help protect them from this unnecessary experiences and severe abuse from their peers. There are all different types of bullying from physical altercations to name-calling, teasing, spreading rumors and cyberbullying. Cases of bullying are also known to happen to even very young children. Parents and teachers need to be on the lookout for cases of bullying that happen even at the preschool age level. This is also the age parents should start teaching their kids not only how to treat others politely and with kindness, but also how to interpret others’ actions and feeling about particular instances.
How to Bully-Proof Your Child:
Researchers including a child psychologist featured in a recent CNN article encourage parents to work with their children even when they are young. It is important to teach your child the difference in their interpretations of life situations. This helps them learn to distinguish between events and feelings. This helps them also understand and relate to the feelings of others. Teaching them these skills early is the best way for them to differentiate how others treat them as they get older. They will be able to determine if how those individuals are treating them is appropriate or not or if they are in fact being bullied.
Another great way to learn how to bully-proof your child is to help them develop a sense of self. Encourage them to learn about themselves and to learn and excel being exactly who they are. Children that struggle to identify who they are, or constantly strive to be their “hero” they are never going to be able to live up to those expectations. This can be detrimental for their self-esteem, which can make them a direct target for bullying. Kids with low self-esteem are less likely to stick up for who they are and make a prime target for kids looking to pick on someone weaker than them.
It is also important to encourage your children to explore activities that make them feel good about themselves. Find something that they are really good at because it will help increase their overall self-esteem and feeling of self-worth. Encouraging courageous behavior is another great way to help learn how to bully-proof your child. You can encourage them to stand up for themselves as well as their peers and other friends. When groups of kids or teens stand together to put an end to a bullying situation, the bully is more likely to back off and won’t mess with your child again. Taking these measures when your child is young is the best way for them to establish early on that they will not stand for bullying. They can grow up with these values and share them with their peers and other friends. This is a great way to help protect your child from bullying situations throughout their live including adulthood.
Sources: cnn.com