11 Ways to Protect a Child from Bullying

Various tactics can help to nip bullying in the bud.

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(SALEM, Ore.) - According to the National Bullying Prevention Center and National Center for Educational Statistics, an incredible 20% of students report bullying. This is equal to one in every five children experiencing bullying at some point during their school years.

It’s also important to be aware that bullying can take on different forms. While some children will be teased, called hurtful names, or endure personal insults, others might be physically hurt, excluded from various activities, or could become the subject of a negative rumor.

Unfortunately, bullying cannot only be hurtful, but it can cause serious and long-lasting damage to a child’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. What’s more, it can interrupt a student’s education, which could prevent them from securing top grades and reaching their academic potential.

Thankfully, various tactics can help to nip bullying in the bud. Here are 11 ways to protect a child from bullying.

1. Talk to Your Child

As children might not always want to talk about their experiences at school, parents must take the time to ask about their day. For example, they should ask about their studies, who they had lunch with, how they spent recess, and if they walked home with anyone from school. It could help a child to talk about bullying, and a parent can then take appropriate action.

Schools must also introduce counselors who have completed online school counseling programs. As they will possess exceptional listening skills, empathy, and will have gained a firm understanding of their ethical and legal responsibilities during online school counseling programs, they will be in the best position to encourage children to open up about their bullying experience.

2. Spot the Signs

• A change in their mood or personality
• Unexplainable injuries
• Avoiding school, hobbies, or other activities
• Regularly feeling sick, experiencing headaches, or another illness (real and fake)
• Destroyed clothing, items, or textbooks
• A sudden drop in grades
• Poor focus
• Sleeping difficulties
• Different eating habits – they might overindulge or go off their food altogether
• A change in hygiene

If one or more of the above applies to your child, it’s important to sit them down for an honest discussion and to maybe discuss the issues with school counselors who have graduated from online school counseling programs. They are in the best position to identify the signs of bullying and can intervene appropriately.

The online school counseling programs will have provided a counselor with the skills to support a child’s emotional and social development, and they will understand both the short and long-term ramifications of bullying.

By undertaking one of the specialist online school counseling programs, this will offer the school counselor a balanced view of how to deal with such issues.

3. Discuss Bullying with Your Kids

To ensure a child doesn’t become a bully, you must sit your son or daughter down to discuss the different types of bullying. For example, you could discuss how hitting, shoving, or teasing another child can damage their emotional wellbeing.

It could help to instill an anti-bullying mindset into your kids, which will ensure they are kind and respectful to other children.

Raising a child with an anti-bullying mindset could also help a child to identify when they are experiencing physical or mental abuse from other children, or they could report an issue to a teacher or parent if one of their classmates is bullied by a peer.

4. Monitor Their Online Activity

However, one study found that between 9% and 35% of young people have experienced some form of electronic aggression. 64% of victims also stated they knew the bully from an in-person situation.

As kids are likely to bottle up their emotions and experiences, parents must monitor their child’s online activities to spot if they are a victim or perpetrator of cyberbullying.

It is essential to identify how they are spending their time online, such as reviewing their social media platforms and browser history. It’s also important to read their text messages, emails, and other forms of communication.

It might help to set time restrictions on their online activities, and you should ensure they use their devices in family rooms, such as the living room or kitchen. Plus, you can avoid them engaging in conversations at night by instructing them to hand over their devices before bed.

As technology is changing all the time and new and potentially harmful apps are regularly introduced, you must gain a greater understanding of their purpose and features.

To gain a firmer understanding of an app, visit Common Sense Media as it promotes safe technology and media for kids. You can then delete an application or stop an activity if you believe it could support cyberbullying.

5. Discuss How Your Child Can Deal with a Bully

• Walking away
• Telling a bully to stop in a firm tone of voice
• Reporting a bully to an adult

It might also help a victim or bystander to talk to a school counselor about bullying. They are required to complete online school counseling programs, which will teach them the fundamentals of counseling and will learn various approaches for intervention, prevention, and crisis intervention.

Plus, online school counseling programs will ensure they understand how to introduce an effective anti-bullying program that could transform many students’ lives.

6. Understand How to Respond to Bullying

For example, you should:

• Document the bullying your child is experiencing – and make a note of times and dates
• Contact the school if the problem is happening inside or outside the classroom – remember to remain calm when talking to teachers
• Offer emotional support to your son or daughter
• Teach them coping mechanisms, such as deep breathing, meditation, and positive thinking
• Role-play situations to help them practice how they will respond to a bully
• Provide your child with help or support, such as counseling Again, online school counseling programs can build on a counselor’s communication skills and listening skills, so they could be an ideal person for your child to talk to when enduring bullying. They also might be more likely to open up to them over their parents.

7. A Face-to-Face Meeting with the School

As you can’t be by your child’s side at school, their teacher must monitor both the bully and your child both inside and outside of the classroom.

A face-to-face meeting will also prove to educators that you’re dedicated to resolving the problem, which could increase their support.

Plus, you can regularly hand over documents to report bullying incidents, which could support a bully’s expulsion or if law enforcement needs to be involved in the future.

8. Find Ways to Stay Up-to-Date

• Attending school events
• Reading school flyers, newsletters, and letters
• Checking the school’s website on a daily basis
• Greeting the bus driver – they might have spotted bullying on a journey or along their route
• Talking to your child’s teacher regularly
• Swapping phone numbers with other parents

The above activities could help you to put faces to names or to receive information that your child is being bullied inside and/or outside of school.

9. Volunteer to Help

As mentioned, many schools will often hire counselors who will have completed one of the various online school counseling programs available, and they will be in the best position to lead an effective campaign.

However, they are bound to appreciate your help at various events and fundraisers, which could protect many children from different forms of bullying, such as teasing, violence, and cyberbullying.

If a school introduces a strict anti-bullying policy and serious consequences, it could deter children from causing emotional and physical harm to others.

It might also help to rally together other parents to put their support behind an anti-bullying campaign across the school, or to encourage the introduction of strong bullying policies and consequences.

If you can gather a group of passionate parents to come up with ideas to decrease bullying, it could change a school’s environment for the better.

It is also important to note that not every school might have a counselor in place, as there is a shortage in the United States. You could, therefore, encourage an institution to find and recruit a professional who has completed one of the respected online school counseling programs available.

10. Look for Signs That Your Child is the Bully

• Hanging out with a bad crowd
• Displaying aggressive behavior
• Returning home with new belongings
• Spending a considerable amount of time online
• Getting into trouble at school

While it can be disappointing to discover your child is a bully, you must not ignore the problem, as it could damage another child’s emotional wellbeing, self-esteem, and education.

11. Consider Teacher Bullying

• Belittle your child
• Attempt to humiliate them in front of their classmates
• Single them out for a punishment
• Make religious, racist, or xenophobic slurs
• Make sarcastic comments about them
• Yell or appear aggressive
• Publicly criticize their work or efforts
• Often assign bad grades for objective projects or assignments

Unfortunately, children might fear telling their parents or another teacher about the bullying, as they might worry no-one will believe them. However, your child’s unusual behavior, angry or emotional outbursts, or poor grades could be an indication that your child is being bullied by their teacher.

Again, it is important to ask them about their day, their teacher, and studies, which could encourage them to open up.

Conclusion

You also must look for potential signs that your son or daughter is being bullied by another child or even a teacher, which could vary from real or fake illnesses to destroyed belongings. Plus, you must monitor their online activity, as many bullies often choose to target their victims via social media, WhatsApp, or through an app.

There are, of course, actions you can take to improve your child’s school life, such as meeting with their teachers and role-playing with your child about how they can respond in different bullying situations.

It might also help your child to talk to a school counselor, as online school counseling programs will put them in the best position for listening to a child and advocating for anti-bullying programs.

Source: Salem-News.com Special Features Dept.