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| Talking about bullying… |
How to talk about bullying…Parents, school staff, and other caring adults have a role to play in preventing bullying. They can:
- Help kids understand bullying. Talk about what bullying is and how to stand up to it safely. Tell kids bullying is unacceptable. Make sure kids know how to get help.
- Keep the lines of communication open. Check in with kids often. Listen to them. Know their friends, ask about school, and understand their concerns.
- Encourage kids to do what they love. Special activities, interests, and hobbies can boost confidence, help kids make friends, and protect them from bullying behavior.
- Model how to treat others with kindness and respect.
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I am sharing this wonderful resource and reference website on “bullying.” From my own experience as a child, kids who bullied others, including me and my siblings at home and in school, often lived in a toxic home and experienced “emotional neglect.” We were angry much of the time. Picking on each other was a way to vent the anger. Bullying other kids in the neighborhood or at school was another way to vent. None of this bad behavior was healthy. But there was little discussion at home and kids were afraid to complain at school when bullying happened. Bullying often became a competition of who was the toughest at picking on each other. The winners of bullying thought they were stars and thrived on the attention and power. Adults gave bullies the power by not paying attention to the seriousness and implications of bullying either at home or at school. Sadly, bullying was like a competitive sport!
I believe we as a community in the 21st Century are doing a much better job of awareness and in talking to our kids about bullying. It is no longer tolerated. Bullying is no longer a competitive sport. You can’t get away with hurting others like we did back in the day. The “too terrible to remember 50’s” in my youth was a battle zone at home and in school, and extended to the 60’s… Child abuse and the often symptomatic behavior of bullying, seemed to be part of the culture in my youth, but no more. I am happy to join in the conversation about bullying and contribute to the campaign of awareness through this blog. Please help in your own way as an adult or kid to stop bullying by talking about it and taken action to remove bullying as a practice in your home or in school…
Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story click to order…
