Cyber Bullying & School Bullying » About Bullying

Paying Attention to Your Child’s Violent Behaviors Prevents Bullying

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:45:11 +0000

Most parents can detect if there’s something wrong with their children’s behavior if the children are being bullied in school. What about if their child is bullying others? While parents do not want their children to be bullying victims, no one wants their child to become a bully either. It causes just as much damage to the child’s development as being a victim. There are signs if the child is bullying others in school. Parents just need to know how to detect.

If your child is showing violent behavior towards you, his or her siblings, or family pets, it’s time to take action. While this is probably the most obvious sign, most bullying starts earlier. Has your child got into physical or verbal fights with others? Has your child got sent to the principal’s office or detention a lot? If you child comes home with extra money or new belongings that cannot be explained, there usually is something going on in your child’s life that you need to look into.

There are also earlier signs such as the child is quick to blame others, or will not accept responsibility for his or her actions. Or even has a strong needs to win or be best at everything. While most parents would be proud if their child wants to be the best at everything, there could be an underlying issue that could lead to aggressive behaviors.

Preventing bullying is never easy nor simple. Whether the child is a bully or a victim, parents need to start paying attention to the signs as early as possible.

Source: StopBullying.gov

Being a bully can hurt other people and yourself

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:23:48 +0000

Many children who bully are in need of help from the school and parents. Many children experience domestic problems at home and they might not realize that they need help. Some of them develop aggressive behaviors over time. Did you know that being a bully can also cause you serious problems? Young women who bully are more likely to drop out of school, have poor grades, use drugs, and shoplift. Bullies are more likely to get in trouble, especially when they are caught bullying others. Would you want to always get in trouble, have bad grades, and hurt other people? Probably not! If you’re still not convinced that bullying is bad, keep reading to learn more interesting facts.

Childhood bullies are much more likely to commit a crime by age 24
Often, childhood bullies are violent when they are older
Bullies take part in many bad things, such as drug and alcohol use, and smoking
Childhood bullies may not change and may be bullies as adults
Bullies are more likely to get into fights and steal

Source: the Office on Women’s Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health

A few things that parents should not do if their children are being bullied

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:23:21 +0000

If you suspect that your children are being bullied in school, there are things that you should not do. Not to tell your children to ignore the bullying. You need to listen and gather more information from your children. Ignoring it will simply make it more serious. And secondly, never blame your children for provoking the bullying. Don’t encourage your children to fight back by harming the person who bullies them. Doing so could get them suspended or expelled from school.

You might attempt to contact the parents of the bullies, but don’t. Doing so could make the matter worse. Contact the school officials instead. Let them handle the situation with the parents. Schools usually will not reveal the result of such contact to you, don’t demand a solution right away. When you don’t hear an exact result from the school, it doesn’t mean that actions were not taken.

Source: stopbullying.gov

Parents’ involvement prevents bullying

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:48:42 +0000

Parents’ involvement in bullying prevention is crucial. Not only in preventing their children from being bullied but also in preventing their children from becoming bullies. Although it is hard for most parents to hear about their child’s negative behavior, parents of children who bully must work closely with the school to resolve the situation. Parents need to remember that children who bully are at high risk for engaging in risky or even criminal behaviors, and it is very important in a bullying situation for the parents to act immediately.

If you notice aggressive behaviors in your children, talk to them. But be objective. You don’t want to sound too nosy or concerned. Make sure your children understand that you will not tolerate bullying. Give clear rules and instructions. Most importantly, spend more time with your child. With both parents working, many families find it hard to squeeze time to be around their children. But parents’ involvement is crucial in children’s development. Not just bullying prevention. Be aware of who your child’s friends are. Find out how they spend their free time. Build on your child’s talents and positive attributes. Enroll them in other activities such as guitar or piano lessons. Encourage him or her to get involved in social activities. Lastly, work with your child’s school and school counselors.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Bullying is not simple conflict, it’s a serious problem

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:18:40 +0000

We all remember the days when conflicts among children were considered fighting or simple problem. But majority of those conflicts were in fact a form of bullying. As our society gets more complex and the tech tools become more available to children of all ages, bullying is becoming a more complex and serious problem. A girl can be bullied to commit suicide or all into deep depression because of bullying in school. Many children are afraid to go to school or attend social activities. Parents even have taken the responsibilities of solving bullying problems on their own hands by riding the school bus with their children.

The funny thing is that many parents themselves are being bullied also. At work, and among friends. There’s one simple rule that is bullying can happen anywhere: face-to-face, by text messages or on the web. Don’t take it for granted that adults will know better to bully someone. The truth is that it is not limited by age, gender, or education level. Many people believe that bullying is just a phase. Children will grow up and grow out of it. But bullying can cause lasting harm if it is not prevented or stopped early.

Being bullied can hurt both emotionally and physically

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 00:56:43 +0000

For most people, being bullied means emotional pain during childhood or teenage years. But recent research has shown that being bullied during those years can have effects on the victims even after they become adults. Bullying not only hurts someone emotionally, but also physically. For school teachers, counselors, and parents, if you notice the following signs, don’t ignore them. The child that you’re concerned about could be experiencing bullying in and out of school. If you notice signs of sadness, hurt feelings, loneliness, depression, take note and ask questions.

Many children, especially girls are being teased about their weight in school. If you notice poor body image, low self-esteem, find out why. In many cases, bullied victims experience stomach aches, and anxiety, have trouble sleeping. If you notice any of the above, talk to the child.

Use anonymous questionnaire to students about bullying

admin — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:38:31 +0000

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 to look and how to prevent, there’s not much we can do. Using anonymous questionnaire to students about bullying is a good start. Ask your students to fill out a survey that will point you to the right direction.

Findings can help motivate adults to take action against bullying;
Data can help administrators and other educators tailor a bullying prevention strategy to the particular needs of the school; and
Data can serve as a baseline from which administrators and other educators can measure their progress in reducing bullying.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Bullying is the not same thing as conflict

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:35:49 +0000

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 of bullying, only one child has a hard time defending himself or herself. Why is the difference between bullying and conflict important? Conflict resolution or mediation strategies are sometimes misused to solve bullying problems. These strategies can send the message that both children are “partly right and partly wrong,” or that, “We need to work out the conflict between you.” These messages are not appropriate messages in cases of bullying.

We should let the bullied children know that they’re being bullied and it’s wrong. We will do everything we could to stop bullying and help them.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Characteristics of children who bully

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:56:09 +0000

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 difficulty following rules. The most common thing that many of them show is that viewing violence in a positive way. If you are a parent, a teacher, or a counselor, and if you notice children who demonstrate the above characters, pay attention to how they interact with other children. If they show bullying behaviors, stop them and them that their actions are wrong.

Source: Department of Health & Human Services

Protect children from repeat bullying

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:12:48 +0000

Mental health professionals should be aware that their job is to protect children from repeat bullying and reduce or limit the effects of bullying that have happened to these children.

Sometimes it’s tempting to try to prevent future bullying by focusing on how these young people should do with their own actions. However, doing so can sometimes backfire because we risk confirming their belief that the bullying was their own fault.

Source: www.ask.hrsa.gov