Childhood Bullying

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, close to half of all children will experience school bullying at some point while they are at primary or secondary school. At least 10 percent of children are bullied regularly. Parents can try to prevent this at an early age, by understanding it, and teaching our children not to be bullies.

There are ways that we as parents can help.

• Take notice of your child’s behavior
• Pay attention to their clothing, look for rips and tears that might show signs of fighting
• Notice their interaction with other children and friends

If you suspect your child is being bullied;

• Listen to them
• Be a safe place for them to come to and express their worries and problems
• Encourage them to talk to you
• Teach them how to properly react
• Advise them to go to a person of authority, and if it doesn’t work, you should report it
• Work on ways to make them stronger to overcome it
• Build up their self esteem

But the truth is that bullies are everywhere, and take shape as anyone. Even worse, is that in this day and age, bullying doesn’t end in the school yard. With all of the different social media formats, and cell phone texts, bullies follow our children home.