It is a fact that kids who are weak and do not know how to react are constant targets of bullies. Therefore, parents must be proactive and teach them to be self sufficient to deal with bullying in school. Here are a few things you can teach your kids.
Teach them to ignore the advances
Teach your kids to ignore the advances made by the bully. Most kids get scared and remain weak and perturbed when they are in such situations. This increases the bully’s confidence and he will carry on with the bullying. Teach your kid how to remain unaffected and walk past the bully without responding to his abuses or harassment. Most bullies need results immediately and when they see that a particular kid is strong and does not consider the advances as a threat and continues with his/her task without getting affected, bullies lose interest and move away. This is the best way to deal with a bully initially. However, it may not work in all cases. Some bullies, who are very egoistic, can actually become more troublesome when you tend to ignore them.
Tell them how to respond and defend themselves
Certain responses and self-defense techniques should be taught to your child to prevent him/her from becoming weak and tongue tied when a bully advances him/her. Teach your kid responses like ‘stay away’, ‘I have had enough of you’ or ‘mind your behavior’ can be taught to the kid. Ensure that you also teach your kid accompanying gestures as well so that he is confident and composed and stern enough to deliver the dialogue when he is approached by the bully. It also helps if you can practice the dialogues and moves at home several times so that your kid is very confident when he/she actually comes face to face with such a situation. Bullies carry on with their harassment when kids do not respond and is scared of the bully. By giving a confident and cool response, your kid will shock him and give him a jolt which is enough for the bully to understand that your kid is not the type to suffer in silence and can give fitting responses that can embarrass the bully.
Confidence and composure matters
A kid’s personality matters a lot when it comes to how he is treated by others in school. Therefore, it is important for you to give your kid supreme confidence and self esteem early on in life. This will help them defend themselves and give them the confidence to fight back when they are faced with antagonistic kids and other bullies. Make sure that you tell your kid not to get affected by funny or hurting remarks and that it is important to believe in himself and his talents to be able to remain unaffected during such circumstances. Confidence in oneself and a few rehearsed responses can help your kid stay away from bullies and be ready and willing enough to fight off bullies if at all the need arises. Build their confidence through several confidence building activities indoor as well as outdoor.
Let them confide in an adult
Bullying is mostly continued by the bully when he finds that the victim does not confide in anyone and is not confident enough to fight back. Never allow your child to be in such a position. Tell him/her beforehand itself that he/she must immediately confide in an adult when such a situation arises. You can also probably identify someone in whom your kid can confide when a bully approaches him/her. When the bully finds that adults are involved, it will be tough for him to carry on with the bullying. The adult must preferably be someone in the school itself so that he/she can monitor your kid all the time. Kids who have an adult to supervise him/her normally do not fall victims to bullies as bullies always have a preference for loners and students who are introverts and weak to respond.
Inform the authorities
Informing the authorities is the last step that you have to take. This should be considered only if the bullying is very severe and your kid refuses to go to school or has lost his calm. Inform the school authorities in such cases without fail as there could be other kids too who could be victims of this bully. Complaint from one parent will always benefit the others too who are suffering and want relief from the bullying ways. Ensure that you are very sure about what your kid says is true, before approaching the authorities.
