November 17 to 23 is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, so we decided to tackle the issue on our blog. But instead of talking about how to help victims of bullying, this blog post will take a different approach:
How can we help the bullies?
Bullying has unfortunately become a common occurrence on most school yards. Bullying occurs every 7.5 minutes on Canadian playgrounds and every 25 minutes in the classroom. These statistics paint a very alarming picture of childhood in Canada.
Bullying is an intentional act that is meant to hurt and dominate another person, characterized by an imbalance of power between the child who bullies and the target. Bullying can be physical, verbal, emotional (social), or sexual, and includes harassment via email and instant messaging.
It can be very upsetting for a parent to learn their child has been labeled a bully. As shocking and difficult as this information can be, it is important to address the issue right away. Research tells us that if we ignore bullying behavior it can lead to more aggressive and antisocial behaviours and interfere with a child’s success in school, as well as his/her ability to form and sustain friendships.
The good news is parents can use several strategies to help their child stop bullying:
Talk with your child: Why is your child bullying other? How does your child feel about him/herself? Are they being bullied? Are their friends being bullied? These questions will open up a dialogue to start to talk about bullying.
Teach empathy, respect, and compassion: Understand your child’s feelings and help your child appreciate how others feel when they are bullied. Help your child understand that everyone has feelings and that feelings matter. You can take turns playing the part of the child who does the bullying and the one who is bullied. Role playing will help your child understand what it is like to be in the other person’s shoes.
Teach by example: Help your child learn different ways to resolve conflict and deal with feelings such as anger, insecurity, or frustration. Role model and reward appropriate behavior.
Seek help: Seek support from your child’s doctor/teacher/principal and find out if your school or community public health offers a bullying prevention program. Getting help not only will help your child learn to understand and deal with bullying behavior, but also help you as a parent.
Find more information and resources for bullying prevention at prevnet.ca.
How can we help the bullies?
Bullying has unfortunately become a common occurrence on most school yards. Bullying occurs every 7.5 minutes on Canadian playgrounds and every 25 minutes in the classroom. These statistics paint a very alarming picture of childhood in Canada.
Bullying is an intentional act that is meant to hurt and dominate another person, characterized by an imbalance of power between the child who bullies and the target. Bullying can be physical, verbal, emotional (social), or sexual, and includes harassment via email and instant messaging.
It can be very upsetting for a parent to learn their child has been labeled a bully. As shocking and difficult as this information can be, it is important to address the issue right away. Research tells us that if we ignore bullying behavior it can lead to more aggressive and antisocial behaviours and interfere with a child’s success in school, as well as his/her ability to form and sustain friendships.
The good news is parents can use several strategies to help their child stop bullying:
Talk with your child: Why is your child bullying other? How does your child feel about him/herself? Are they being bullied? Are their friends being bullied? These questions will open up a dialogue to start to talk about bullying.
Teach empathy, respect, and compassion: Understand your child’s feelings and help your child appreciate how others feel when they are bullied. Help your child understand that everyone has feelings and that feelings matter. You can take turns playing the part of the child who does the bullying and the one who is bullied. Role playing will help your child understand what it is like to be in the other person’s shoes.
Teach by example: Help your child learn different ways to resolve conflict and deal with feelings such as anger, insecurity, or frustration. Role model and reward appropriate behavior.
Seek help: Seek support from your child’s doctor/teacher/principal and find out if your school or community public health offers a bullying prevention program. Getting help not only will help your child learn to understand and deal with bullying behavior, but also help you as a parent.
Find more information and resources for bullying prevention at prevnet.ca.
