By Ma. Yvette Heart Calimlim
In this generation, bullying is considered as one of the serious problem of every child. This is an undesirable, violent behavior among school aged that implicates a real or apparent difference. It has been said that this has become a repeated act overtime. As parents, we should understand how to understand. Kids are hesitant to tell if they are being bullied so we should know the signs, because they think that parents will be upset and reactive if this happens.
What are the types of bullying?
- Physical – this a type of bullying that a person or group of people harasses another person face to face such as kicking, hitting and even destroying one’s persons belongings.
- Cyberbullying – uses technology to harass, embarrass one person, or even use as threatening. Though it can happen accidentally, people sometimes misinterpret every message convey because of the email, text messages, one’s persons joke could insult other people.
- Psychological bullying – this includes embarrassing one person in front of many people.
- Verbal – this includes teasing, using foul, hurtful words that can insult one person.
There are signs to know if our child is being bullied.
- Poor performance in academics and lack of enthusiasm to go to school.
- Child has changes on eating habits.
- Feeling of low self-esteem.
- Self-destructive behavior.
- Child avoids social gatherings or events.
- Damaged to the child’s belongings.
- Lack of interest on activity, be it in school or at home.
- Sadness and anxiety
How can we help our child cope?
- Teach your child how to deal with the situation. Just like any other parents, we should always tell our children not to fight back even people are hurting them. Instead, ignoring those bully person, seeking help from a teacher or any adult around, walking away from bully.
- Boost your child’s self-esteem and share their problems. Admittedly some parents won’t stay calm and easily get fuming every time bullying happens which is not a good approach, we should let our children feel the understanding and love as much as possible because that is what they need if this bullying happens.
- Teach your children on how to deal with cyberbullying and be aware of this. Making sure that they know how to use the internet and never act immediately if bullying happens to them, seek guidance from parents.
- Help them boost their self-confidence and unleash the talents they have. Join social activities so they can gain friends.
How we should respond to bullying?
- Be aware of the school’s bullying policy. This is very important so you can mindful on how the school handle such cases of bullying.
- Record every details you know. Date, place and person who is/are involved. Especially for cyberbullying, as we have already a law about it. Save those text messages, screenshots if possible.
- If this bullying has a serious mental effect on your child, consult a mental health provider and even you can speak with legal authorities if this takes too far as expected.
- We should stay calm. It will be a good practice if our child sees that we are holding back our anger.
Unfortunately we cannot bully-proof our children. They cannot stay away from those kind of people. But we can’t just isolate our children from others, instead let’s show love, respect and support and let them be aware of the things they need to do during this phase. So sad to see some children or teenagers commits suicide when they were bullied. It’s never too late to teach our children to be strong and let them feel the love and care.
Source of information: www.kidshealth.com; www.parents.com
