Bullying is when someone intentionally is hurtful or cruel to another person repeatedly. It’s not a one-time nasty comment or someone unintentionally being rude. Bullying can impact a person’s heart and health. Unfortunately, bullying is what made us decide to homeschool our son. Although we made this decision, it’s important to know that for most kids, it gets better. There are ways to overcome bullying in school.
If your child has even one positive friend at school, focus on the good things about that relationship. Allow them to bring the friend over to your home or encourage them to spend time with that child at their house if invited. Some children have a difficult time finding even a friend at school. Encourage relationships with other children at church and outside of school activities.
Get off social media
Everyone not just for older children. Young people are signing up for accounts on Snapchat, Instagram, and other favorite sites even before the age minimum. Online bullying is hurtful and hard to detect as a parent. Kids hide behind screens and often say things they would never say to a child’s face. Social networks and apps like sarah.ah (recently removed from Apple and Google Play due to a petition over bullying concerns) allow users to post anonymous feedback to each other. Although this app was removed, others like it pop up frequently. Monitor your child’s phone and electronic use to help alleviate online bullying. The best way is to talk to them about proper social media use, appropriate ages to start using social media, and to report to you when they see someone being bullied or if they are a victim of bullying online.
Look to short and long term goals.
Talk often with your children about goals in their lives. What do they want to be when they grow up? What are some things they are looking forward to? Make sure they see that there is so much ahead for them. Remind them that the pain they feel from hurtful words is just temporary. Do not dismiss their feelings as less than, but talk to them about how important they are to the future of your family and the world. Tell them every day that you love them and they matter.
These tips will help your child overcome bullying in school, but ultimately the best thing you can do is foster open communication with your child. Tell them they can come to you whenever they feel mistreated. This is the first step to helping them understand, it does get better.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
