There are a host of websites online that deal with what bullying is. Wikipedia has an excellent summary of what it is and the negative effects of bullying. They even have a section that talks about how some people think there is a few potential benefits to being bullied.
There are even websites that talk about bullying from teachers to students, students to students and workplace bullying.
One scary statistic that seemed to come up again and again was the idea that even though most people believe bullying is wrong, they will not get involved in a situation where they see bullying occuring.
Bullying and our children:
It is our responsibility to teach our children what to do in many situations. Statistics that I have read recently would cause me to believe that most parents are actually teaching their child what do to when it is the child that is being bullied.
But what about when it's someone else's kid?
Not so much.
It's time to change that. It's time we teach our children what to do when someone else is being bullied. I know, I know, we're setting them up to be bullied or maybe even get in trouble in school if the situtation turns really ugly
We may also be setting them to stop bullying at least in their circle of influence. Some practical ideas to teach our children are:
- Ignore the bully by pulling the one being bullied away from the situation. In my experience this rarely works but it's still worth the effort.
- Stand up to the bully in a non-threatening way. This may involve walking over to the person being bullied and standing between them and the bully. It may also involve telling the bully to stop which will probably cause them to target your child for a little while.
- Take the bully aside and have a private conversation with them. If your child knows the bully personally, this might work.
- Involve the school officials. Sometimes, talking to school officials can help in a tremendous way.
- Involve the authorities. Sometimes, we need to be the one's who involve the authorities even if it isn't our child being bullied.
There is no honor in simply sitting aside and letting someone else being bullied. What thoughts do you have? Add to the list by commenting below.
