FollowStanding Up Against Bullying
The majority of bullying events happen when adults are not around such as at lunch, at recess, after school, between classes and online. The sad news is that many kids have no idea how to handle bullies if and when they are confronted by one. Here are some great tips for teaching your child how to stand up against bullies.
Call Them Out
Call Them Out-Calling a bully out does not always mean to be nasty to the bully. What it does mean is that your child is calling the bully out for their actions. Many times, bullies are not called out on their behavior and their actions. If bullies are not called out for their behavior, they will just continue their bullying behavior. If your child is being bullied, tell them to stand up and point out to the bully that what they are doing is wrong and mean.
Tell Someone You Trust
Tell a trusted adult-Kids bully other kids in order to make them feel alone and powerless. If a child is being bullied, they can counter that strategy by telling an adult that they trust what is happening and what they should do. A bully will start to lose the feeling of power once they realize that they cannot keep their victim isolated. Many kids are afraid to be called a tattletale if they tell someone they are being bullied and this is exactly what bullies are depending on.
Act Quickly
Act quickly– Ensure that your child is aware that the sooner they do something about being bullied, the better. They need to understand that the longer the bully has power over them, the stronger that hold will become. Many times bullying starts off in a mild form such as teasing or name calling. However, once the bully knows they can get away with this, the bullying ends up getting worse.
Body Language
Use the right body language-When teaching your child how to stand up against being bullied, one important thing to teach them is to use body language to reinforce words. Teach your child to use non-verbal assertive strategies such as maintaining eye contact, using the name of the person doing the bullying when talking to them, keeping a calm and even voice and stand an appropriate distance from the bully.
