Being bullied is something almost every child goes through at one point or the other. But at times it becomes extremely frustrating for the child or even downright dangerous. Hence, it is important for the parents to take a stand and protect their children from such experiences.
Signs that the child is being bullied:
- If there are a number of unexplained bruises on the child’s face and body.
- Personal belongings of the child regularly go missing or are damaged.
- If the child has very few friends.
- If the child is often reluctant to go to school.
- If the child always seems afraid or near to tears.
- If the child stops eating or sleeping properly.
- If the child develops an extremely low self esteem, doesn’t communicate with anyone and shows signs of depression.
- If you are seeing any of the above signs in your child, you should immediately try to talk and sort it out with the child. Bullying can affect the child adversely and they may end up retreating into a cocoon and not interact with anyone.
Steps to protect the child:
1.Parents should encourage the child to speak up and tell them about the experiences they are facing. It is important to let the child know that the parents will always support them and will help them to solve their problem. Under no circumstances should the child be blamed for being weak or cowardly as this makes the matters worse.
2.The parents should teach the child to deal with bullying in non-violent ways like being firm and telling the bullies that they will not be intimidated by anyone. It is also important to teach them that at times walking away is the best thing to do as some bullies may also carry weapons. Parents can also enroll the child in some self defense classes. This brings back the confidence in them.
3.Encourage the child to make more and more good friends. Bullies usually charge those who are loners. Sticking with a group of friends minimizes the chance of being bullied.
4.Bullies themselves have low self esteem and hence feed on the weaknesses of others to feel powerful. Parents can help the child develop high levels of confidence and self esteem by involving them in activities like sports, music art etc. this helps the child to remain unaffected by the bullying thereby discouraging the bully.
5.The parents should also inform the school authorities regarding such incidents. They are often the best people to officially handle such situations. Adult supervision is indeed necessary in such cases.
6.Often bullying leads to high level of anxiety or depression in the child which will require a professional counseling.
Parental intervention is necessary in the primary stages of bullying in order to prevent lasting problems. It is important to let the child know that they are not weak or alone. Such children need a lot of loving and encouragement in order to start learning to stand up for themselves.
