In today’s world bullying among children is unfortunately very common. In this article we are going to explain different types of bullying and ways to avoid it.

What is bullying?

Repeatedly aggressive behavior (which is intentional) to someone that makes them suffer, harm, scared and embarrassed is bullying. One of the most common places for bullying is school and its area. Bulling can have a negative effect on victims, society, and even bullies so it needs to stop.

Bullying can be categorized based on how it will be done and it surely can help us to understand bullying better.

• Verbal bullying– sometimes bullies do it with name-calling, saying mean things about religion, culture, and also spreading rumors.
• Physical bullying– when it is physical bullying, they hurt victims physically. Understandably, boys use this kind of bullying more than girls. They use some behaviors such as kicking, punching, chasing, shoving, etc. that sometimes can be dangerous.
• Social bullying– has social consequences for the victim. For example, They don’t let someone involve in the group, they don’t let them play or they draw their name on the wall to intrigue others to humiliates the victim.
• Cyberbullying– as we have bullying in the real world it also happens on the internet. Social media lets bullies hurt others by spreading rumors about them or even scare them. We will discuss it more in the rest of the article.

Why is it important?

Some parents may ignore bullying among children because they think they will be resolved eventually and some others may think it should be experienced to make them tougher. But bullying can hurt them physically, emotionally, psychologically, and socially. when kids get bullied, they will feel scared, they can’t trust themselves, they feel anxious, depressed and probably don’t want to go back to school or maybe want to drop school. They feel insecure and anxious so it causes them to not be able to focus on their lesson and so it will affect their memory. All of this can lead to failure in education. In the worst case, they would even think of suicide.

The damage is not only for the children who are victims. Statistically, there is a good possibility that people who are bullies do criminal behavior and therefore make society a worse place.

And in the end, we should even be worried about the psychological effects of bullying on bullies as well They learn to earn what they want in this manner, they can’t have a healthy relationship with others, they can’t achieve success in education and they may have a problem being successful in their job. As it said they may show dangerous behavior or do things against the law.

Cyberbullying:

Today a noticeable amount of our of communication is on social media which depending on many factors can be healthy or harmful.

In some aspects, it’s better than the real world for bullies. They can message them whenever they want and there is no need to wait until school day. It’s easier for them to spread rumors and publish mean media, pictures, and messages about others. Another advantage they may use is the opportunity to be on social media without letting others know that who they are. The Internet can give them facilities to bully others more easily. Existing humiliating content on the internet even if bullies don’t spread it, can be a great pain for victims.

What should we do about bullying among children?

There are a few tips that can help. Victims, parents, school, and other students can do something to make it better.

Parents and school

Social skills are excellent prevention of bullying. Childminders along with teachers and parents should teach children this important skill: Assertiveness . Parents can practice with them in regular everyday communications, when their children are in pre-school to be more assertive. It will be great if they learn how to say no, how to say their feeling, thoughts, needs, and demands easily without shyness or aggressiveness. And also they should know about their rights as a human being.

Childminders along with parents should help children to build up their self-esteem and self-worth and remind them no matter what happens they will be always valuable. If they learn about resilience they would be better in difficult situations. Here at mom & dad make sure to be collaborating with childminders who know how to properly deal with bullies or children who are suffering from bulling. If you have noticed that your child shares the same problem, do not hesitate to contact us.

Talking and listening to them carefully with kindness can be another help. You may notice that they don’t want to talk about bullying and what is happening to them but you can be always open with them, assure them that you are supportive and you will care about them.

Sometimes talking to teachers about a child’s relationships with others can be helpful. Also reporting the bullies to school and have a talk with parents of bullies might be a good idea. Some parents like their child to grow tough and they may suggest violence and fight against bullying but that wouldn’t help and even may cause more danger.

Other children who are witnesses

When bullying is happening normally other students are watching and this may worry them naturally. They may think it could happen to them or this may make them because they don’t know what to do. Students who see bulling can play a strong role in these situations.

• They can be friends with victims.
• When bullying is happening they can say something to stop the bullies.
• It would be the right behaviour to stop sharing the bullying content and encourage their friends to do so
• Report the bullies to the school supervisor

What children can do by themselves?

Most of the time bullies don’t choose ones who have friends or who are part of a group and therefore more isolated children can be easier to be bullied. So making friends or be part of a group or community, like sports groups. can be a solution.

If children spend more time in a group there will be less possibility that they face the bullies alone.

Reporting the bullies to adults, teachers, and someone who is trusted can be helpful.

Children can practice not to cry or feel ashamed in the moment of bullying because bullies enjoy seeing victims like that.

Saying stop and getting away from them can cause that bullies don’t choose them again.

Conclusion:

Bullying can be very harmful to children and hurt them emotionally. Bullying is a behavior that happens repeatedly by bullies to make others feel afraid and insecure. Listening to children and supporting them can be a good way for parents. Teaching our children social skills and practices can be a strong prevention as well. Also, we should teach them that  when they see bullying, they shouldn’t agree with bullies and they must be active to stop it.