Bullying is something which will cross your child's way someday, so why not prepare them for any unforeseen dangers which they may have to come across at any point in their lives.
Bullying will cross your child's way someday, keep them safe
HIGHLIGHTS
- Bullying is something which will cross your childs way someday
- Ensure that your kids are capable of speaking up for themselves
- Teach them how to ignore a serious fight
Bullying is a serious problem and that goes without saying. One child abusing the other on the basis of physical, monetary or any other forms of strength is absolutely unethical. Sadly, you cannot do much about it but teach your kids how to protect themselves. And at the end, you cannot protect your kids everywhere. They need to learn the art of dealing with bullies. And bullying is something which will cross your child's way someday, so why not prepare them for any unforeseen dangers which they may have to come across at any point in their lives.
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Here's a list of 5 ways using which you can empower your kids and teach them how to keep safe from bullies.
1. Teach them how to speak up
The first and foremost thing is ensuring that your kids are capable of speaking up for themselves. If not in front of the world, they should at least come and tell their parents, peers or any elder person about any strange incidents of bullying. If your child is too young, teach them the difference between a friendly incident and a deliberate effort to hurt the other person. They should know the difference between a friendly comment or an indecent statement, especially on social media. Tell them that crying is fine and nothing to be ashamed of. It does portray them as the weakling.
2. Your connection with your child should be strong
And by strong, we mean strong enough to come and tell you what's going on with them or around them. Besides this, if your child is showing some strange behavior like being rude or answering back or is staying alone, you must keep yourself calm and talk to them as to what is happening around them. When your child is being humiliated every day and is going through a tough time with peers, it is normal for them to feel hurt, and all this comes out in the form of a strange behavior. If both kids are too young, you can try making them sit and sort all issues together. However, if an older kid is involved, the idea of adult intervention can be terrifying for them.
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3. Tell them the difference between 'walking away' and 'running away'
You cannot fight back in all battles; you need to choose the one which is good enough to be fought back. Teach them how to ignore a serious fight. Kids usually feel that saying no to a fight and walking away is being a coward. In some situations, it is actually being the smart one. Tell them how to walk away from such situations and how that is a more mature way of dealing with it. It just shows that the victim is mature and knows how to deal with such incidents.
4. Encourage them to make friends
Bullies look for those who are lonely. They do not usually poke around in big groups. So tell your kids that they need to make friends. A person or two you can have your lunch with or play in the field with will help in keeping bullies away. Teach your kids how to make good friends and not rely on them at all. They should feel safe around friends, but not weak without them.
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5. Parents need not intervene always
Every parent is protective of his or her own child. But being over-protective and rushing to the school every time something happens is not the right decision. Only in extreme cases when your child suffers physical or mental damage, should you intervene and talk to the bully's parents. Try to make your child feel loved and comfortable at home. Remember that it is not your fight and you must stay on the backseat till you are called for help.
Protecting your child against bullies is one thing, preventing them from becoming a bully is another. So why not do the latter, why not take a step to protect not just your child but any kid around you so that at some point of time, bullying actually comes to an end.
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