How To Help Your Child Deal With Bullies

Anyone can fall prey to the taunting, dominating and aggressive behaviour perpetrated by bullies. If your child is a victim of bullying, you need to know all about why kids bully and ways to safeguard your child from bullies.

According to a research titled, Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth: Prevalence and Association with Psychosocial Adjustment, done by Tonja R. Nansel and published in The Jama Network (April 25, 2001), "A total of 29.9% of the sample reported moderate or frequent involvement in bullying, as a bully (13.0%), one who was bullied (10.6%), or both (6.3%)."

This shows that bullying is a globally common students' problem, and wherever your child might go, she will need to learn to tackle bullies. To bully-proof her school and social life, follow these five guidelines.

1. Inculcate patience

Although this might not seem like the bravest thing to do, it could be the most effective advice you can give your child while helping her through being bullied. Sometimes, putting up with or ignoring these rude acts for a while can make the bully lose interest.

2. Motivate to take up the issue

In cases of extreme and repeated bullying, the only way to help your child will be to take it to the school authorities, or the bully's parents. Although your child might be hesitant to do this, fearing further repercussions, it is your duty to make him realise that people should be made accountable for their bad actions.

3. Encourage to stand up for what is right

Constantly being bullied can push a child into silence and submissiveness. Even though it might save her from bullies, this attitude might become a permanent characteristic. Encourage her to be brave and stand up against bullies, assuring that you will be there to help.

4. Teach defensive skills

There is nothing wrong in teaching your child some basic defence tactics, as long as you also teach him to use them wisely. Whether it is to run away, or prevent him from getting hit, these defensive skills will save him from not just bullies but also other kinds of danger.

5. Help through the trauma

Irrespective of how your child seems to be reacting to the bullying, there will be some amount of trauma underpinning her. Understand what she is going through and take extreme care in ensuring that you will be there with her every step of the way, to provide help, moral support and encouragement.

One important aspect to remember is that these guidelines differ according to situations. For instance, if a bully is thrashing your kid, he cannot be patient about it and bear the wrongdoing. Hence, you need to understand the exact scenario and what your child is going through before imparting advice or helping him and acting as the situation demands.