Help your Teenager Overcome Bullying
All parents want to protect their children. And from everything. Even a scratch on their skin makes you skip a beat. But as soon as they turn three, they’ll enter school; and gradually will start spending more and more time away from you.
Research says, that children who live in a very protected environment turn out to be timid, and more suppressed than others. They often seek protection and find it difficult to stand up for themselves. In other words, their chances of getting bullied are higher than others.
How does bullying affect a child?
Contrary to the popular belief that bullying is just an act of teasing one’s colleagues for fun, bullying is much more than that. Having fun at the expense of others might have a long-lasting effect on the victim’s mind.
Children, if bullied in school might:
- Grow up with low confidence, and doubt themselves and their capabilities
- Not be able to express themselves without the fear of being judged or trolled
- Not be able to develop good social skills which would help them in their career
- Lack courage and self confidence
Dealing with Bullies
While every school or institution must have an anti-bullying policy, but at a personal level too, children need to handle it. Parents play a pivotal role in helping their children overcome bullying: –
- Ignore: The first step, always, is to ignore the bullies and not get affected by their behaviours. The bullies run on the principle of attacking the weakest, so the more they feel that their victim is getting hurt, their hunger would increase.
- Be Strong: There are different ways to tackle different kind of bullies, some wannabe bullies just assume that the victim can’t retaliate, and continue to harass them. All they need is one glare, or maybe one loud voice that could silence them. Experts say, most of the bullies are cowards themselves, and hence attack supposedly weak people.
- Make friends: Another thing which is really easy to do is to try and be friends with them. There are a set of people who aren’t happy with their routine, and hence, they find happiness in making others suffer. Some of them might even be lonely and need a word or two. Although it might be difficult to find this out, but once you figure this out, it becomes really easy.
As a parent, what you can advise your kid is to observe their bully. What do they like? What puts them off?
Is it really a good idea to be friends with them? What is their weakness?
Teach your kid one thing – bullies are people. People need to be understood. The best way to tackle the bullies is to understand the person behind them, understanding what their weaknesses are, and how can you tackle them without disturbing your own mental peace.
