Teach Your Child About Bullying

Although it seems that bullying children among themselves is harmless, it can have a major impact on their personal development. That is why we must teach our children how to deal with bullying from an early age.

There are different forms of bullying. This behavior is usually caused by  ignorance and a lack of empathy. 

In other words, when children are confronted with something they don’t know yet, they may start to joke about it. The bottom line is that they believe this is the best way to handle new things. 

Factors that can influence bullying

• The age of the child.  
• The support of the family.
• Values ​​within the household.  
• The child’s social skills.
• The presence or absence of academically trained confidential counselors.

• The behavior of the children’s teachers.
• The way a new classmate is introduced.

Science shows the impact of bullying 

Humiliation has been shown to affect the human brain.  This impact is greater than that of emotions such as happiness and anger.

A group of researchers from the University of Amsterdam set up a study into the influence of humiliation and bullying.

They selected a group of individuals and read them a number of stories. During these stories, the people had to put themselves in the role of the protagonist. This allowed them to experience the different feelings of the protagonist.

The areas of the brain that are activated by humiliation are associated with pain. From this, researchers concluded that humiliation is experienced by the brain just as intensely as pain. 

How do you deal with bullying? 

Parents need to research what exactly is going on and figure out the best options. 

• What is the basis for bullying?
• How regularly does it occur?
• How does the child react to it?
• How can we deal with bullying and help our child deal with it in a healthy way?

You must answer these questions so that you can solve the problem in the fastest way.

It is also important to find out if your child is being ridiculed. On the other hand, it is also important to know whether your child is the one who bullies other children.

Children should be taught how to respond appropriately to bullying behavior.  This will help them get to the root of the problem and sideline the bullies.

Depriving the bully of the effect of their behavior will cause them to become bored and eventually stop.

Never, should we label our children as ‘cowards’ or ‘crybaby’. This does not solve the problem, nor does it make them stronger. The best solution is to give respect, love and understanding. 

Once the child explains his problems, it is important to empathize with his feelings. It also makes sense to share personal anecdotes that can reassure them.

We should emphasize the positive aspects of the situation. Let them know we can find a solution.

Important Advice

• Never encourage violence. 
• If it’s some kind of mockery, we should teach our kids to ignore it until the bully gets tired of it.
• When the bullying becomes moderate to severe, it is smart to go to the school and find a teacher or counselor who can help resolve the situation. It is important to find a solution quickly.
• We should teach our children to be respectful to others. This will ensure that they deal with bullying in a healthy way.

• Once we are aware of the situation, we must support them unconditionally. It is important that they feel loved and supported.
• Everything has a positive side and there are always important lessons to be learned. Also approach bullying from this side.