It is often hard for adults such as parents and teachers, and school administrators to figure out when bullying is more likely to happen and the types of bullying that do happen. We often get surprised when a situation happens. The best way to fight bullying is through bullying prevention. But unless we know where [...]
What to do if you think that you’re being bullied in school
If you think that you’re being bullied in school, don’t panic. The most important thing to do is to tell. Tell your parents, or other trusted adults. Tell your teacher, counselor, and principal. Then you need to protect yourself. This is hard to do, but there are a few simple tips: Try to avoid situations [...]
Verbal bullying is the most frequent form of bullying
Did you know that verbal bullying is the most frequent form of bullying. Even though boys are more likely to bully others according to some researchers, girls are just likely to bully either boys or girls through verbal bullying. Girls are also more likely to bully each other through social exclusion. As parents and educators, [...]
Bullying is the not same thing as conflict
Unlike what many people’s belief, bullying is not the same thing as conflict. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance of power or strength. In most cases, bullying is repeated over and over. Conflict involves antagonism among two or more people. Any two people can have a conflict or a fight. In the case [...]
Characteristics of children who bully
Even though you can’t really tell what kind of children who might bully, there are few characteristics of children who bully regularly. These children usually lack warmth and involvement of their parents at home. They tend to be impulsive, hot-headed and dominant. Some of them get frustrated easily and lack empathy. They can also have [...]
Group treatment for bullies doesn’t usually work
As more school administrators take bullies seriously, more group treatment plans are emerging. But often these group treatment plans are counter productive. Although they were well intentioned, not all programs help the victims or the bullies. These programs usually include anger management, skill-building, empathy-building, and seeking ways to build the self-esteem of bullies. Since children [...]
Bullying happens in out-of-school programs too
Bullying not only happens in school, it also happens in out-of-school programs too. Because out-of-school time programs fill the gap for working parents, communities are concerned about how and where youth spend their free time. Professionals and volunteers in this field cover a diverse range of activities and organizations. Because children spend some time in [...]
Law enforcement officers can help stop bullying
Law enforcement officers, like other adults, should be concerned about the effects of bullying on children. Research indicates that bullying can cause health, psychological, and educational problems for children who are bullied. If the adults ignore the problem, the children who are bullied are more likely than other children to be depressed, lonely, and anxious; [...]
There’s no short term or simple solution to prevent bullying
It’s true that schools have their primary goal of educating children. Bullying is just one of the issues that the school administrators face. Often, school administrators and their staff adopt a short-term, piecemeal approach to bullying prevention. By introducing some lessons and assembly, schools try to prevent and solve the issues simply. But bullying is [...]
How to tell the children who bully to stop
As adults, whether you’re the parent, teacher, school bus driver, or counselor, you need to keep in mind that bullying is a form of victimization, not conflict. So conflict resolution and peer mediation will not work. When you see bullying, you need to take actions right away and tell the bullying children that their behavior [...]