Bullying is a phenomenon that is present at all ages but is more profound during school. It occurs when there are power dynamics at play; the bully hoards power and uses it to abuse others.
They might physically hurt other children, by kicking or punching them, or getting into fights with them. Bullies also emotionally and verbally abuse other students. From ostracizing them to name calling, from making other students do their work to exploiting them, the modus operandi of bullies is composite of a wide range of problematic behaviors.
The impact of bullying is also grave. Students fear being bullied, and once they are bullied, their mental health takes a downward tumble from the trauma of bullying. They might become extremely stressed, with their physical health also suffering as a result, which may then require the help of their Child specialist in Lahore.
Dealing with bullies
It is hence imperative that children know how to correctly deal with bullies, who are themselves troubled children, in dire need of help. Their problematic behavior might be due to trouble at home, lack of parenting, or their ploys to grab attention.
Some things that you can teach your child to do in the face of bullying include:
Be confident
It is the world’s rule of thumb to display power to the weaker people. It is harder for anyone to exploit people who are not scared of them. Hence, your child needs to be confident, and not get intimidate by the bully. Once it becomes clear that the bully cannot mess with them, they will let them be.
Bigger person
No way does being bullied mean that you also lose your own conduct. Children should know that just because the other person is being unreasonable does not mean that they let go of their ethics and stoop to the level of the bullies. Being a reverse bully is not a nice color.
Ignore them
Most bullies want a reaction from their prey. The solution; to not give one. Children should know how to ignore bullies. Rather than fretting about them and becoming scared of ever running into them, they should simply refrain from reacting to their presence.
Report
Children are scared of reporting from the fear of peer pressure. They do not want to seem sissy in front of their peers. However, they should know the correct protocols for dealing with problematic behaviors, and that is the grown-up way of doing things as well.
Hence, if they are being bullied, they need to talk to the teachers and the school management about it.
Self-esteem
If you are confident in your abilities and are sure of yourself, no matter what other people say, you will not be fazed. You need to make your child is similarly strong as well, by ensuring that they value themselves.
Teach them the importance of self-esteem and inculcate in them to value of themselves. Then, when the bullies make mean remarks or try to be derogatory, they know bullies are just being rude, and there is not an iota of truth to their jabs, which will then lose impact.
Strength in numbers
There is always safety in numbers. Hence, impart to your child to always be with a friend, or plural. Since bullies want to find a weak target, and a lonesome person is the weakest target, being in the company of other people then makes them less vulnerable to a run-in with the bullies.
Responding to bullies
Bullying should not be taken lightly. It is not the rite of the passageway through the teenage years. As parents, it’s your job to keep a check in the environment in the school. If the problem of bullying is not addressed, then not only your child’s mental health is at stake, but their physical health as well, which then needs to be addressed by the Child specialist.