Bullying is something that parents shouldn’t ignore. Everyone including our children has the right to live freely and happily. Any form of bullying, verbally or physically, can threaten our children and make them feel insecure. This situation should be seen as abnormal and must be taken care of effectively. Unfortunately, many parents tend to dismiss bullying as typical interaction between children. Often, parents also don’t aware that act of bullying could happen to their children.
Here are six ways to address this issue effectively:
1. Make children calmer:
It is important to make our children calmer before we start addressing this problem. Due to incessant bullying, our children could get agitated quite easily. We should assure them that they are safe now and we are protecting them. It would be wise to try to make our children calmer and we can’t do that if we also freak out. Parents also need to keep cool.
2. Let our children speak:
It is a good opportunity to let our children express their feeling and tell their stories. Parents shouldn’t get emotional and they need to discover all the details. We shouldn’t blame the child, because this could discourage them from telling the truth. Pay attention to what our children are saying. Once children know that we are somewhat disinterested and are not willing to take real actions, it is possible for them to become reluctant in the future.
3. Find out the real cause:
Parents should be aware about factors that trigger the actual bullying. There could be a few things that instigated this situation. Find out why bullies started to tease our children. Ask teachers whether it is possible for us to meet these bullies, so we can ask them calmly.
4. Find solutions:
Parents should try to look for solutions to this problem and ask for children for their opinion. The children themselves are a significant part of the entire plan and we should know what they think about how the plan should be solved. This could help us to boost their confidence and raise their self esteem.
5. Role play with children:
Once we are able to brainstorm with our children, it is a good idea to role play the situation with them. This could help us understand more about what have happened to our children. Children could also be better prepared when they face future incidences of bullying.
6. Follow up:
After the above steps, it is important to follow up our findings and make sure that bullying won’t reoccur. We should let children know that we are completely interested in their situation.
In any case, bullying should be considered as something serious because it can have long-term implications to our children. If parents are unwilling to take proper actions, it is possible that our children will become more depressed. This will affect their academic performance and social life. The above steps should help parents address any kind of bullying that affect children at school or on the neighbourhood.