School bullies are real. They are solutions to help your child successfully stop bullying. The first step is to listen to your child and respond with solution-oriented options. This article will help you help your child stop the bully.
How To Help Your Child Stop The Bully
Childhood bullying can have lifelong consequences. Listen to your child’s concerns. Then help your child create a plan to stop bullying in its tracks.
Bullying was once considered a childhood rite of passage. Today, however, bullying is recognized as a serious problem. Up to half of all children are bullied at some point during their school years, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. And thanks to tech-savvy kids, cyberbullying and other forms of electronic harassment are now commonplace — even in elementary schools.
To help your child handle school bullying, learn to recognize it — and know how to respond.
Different Forms of Bullying
- Any child can be bullied, particularly younger children and those who have few friends or are easily intimidated. At any age, bullying can take many forms. For example:
- Physical bullying includes hitting, punching, kicking and other types of physical harm, as well as destruction of a child’s property.
Verbal bullying includes teasing, name-calling, taunting and racial slurs, as well as spreading gossip or malicious rumors. - Cyberbullying includes harassing e-mails or instant messages, as well as intimidating or threatening Web sites or blogs.
- The consequences of bullying
- Children who are bullied may be afraid to go to school. They may complain of headaches or stomachaches and have trouble concentrating on schoolwork.
In the long term, the consequences of bullying may be even more severe. Children who are bullied have higher rates of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and other mental health conditions. Children who are bullied are more likely to think about suicide. Some of these wounds may linger into adulthood.
