100% People

Bullying

2 October 2007 | Author: Hayley

Bullying can affect anyone… from Superstar Justin Timberlake to Joe Bloggs down the road. Even the beautiful Kate Winslet has spoken of her time at school and how she was teased by kids due to her weight, the actress says she was called “Blubber” by her class mates.

School is a tough place, especially if you feel slightly different amongst the other children. Being over weight, too short, too tall, having the wrong hair colour, even having the wrong shoes can all contribute to a child suffering at the hands of a cowardly bully.

Bullying statistics are still as worrying as they have ever been. The largest survey reports that seven out of ten children have been bullied at school. But children do not need to suffer and there are ways to overcome a bullying problem.

Is your child being bullied?

Have you noticed a change in your child’s behavior? Are you worried this could be down to a bullying issue? The following points are just some of the signs that may help you identify the problem:

• Quiet and withdrawn
• Moody and bad tempered
• Trying to stay home, faking illness etc.
• Coming home with suspicious injuries
• Losing money and/ or possessions on regular occasions

If you suspect your child is a victim of bullying, speak to them. Try to encourage them to open up, maybe ask them a few “non-intrusive” questions. What games they played today? What they ate for lunch? What didn’t they enjoy at school today? How your child responds may indicate hidden troubles.

The only way to resolve a bullying problem is for the child to speak out. However, sensitivity is crucial. Take questioning your child step-by-step, don’t rush in with a full interrogation.

If you do discover your child is being bullied it is only natural for you as a parent to feel angry and maybe guilty for not recognising the signs earlier. Feeling helpless in the situation is common too, but there are things you can do.

• Ask your child to keep a diary of all the times and places the bully approaches them and record what happens.
• Talk to the child’s teacher, make them aware there is a problem, that way the teacher can keep an extra eye on the situation and get it resolved. Hand the diary of events into the teacher every week and keep a copy for yourself.
• Praise your child; help them to re-build their self esteem. Be understanding but also confident that the issue is not unbeatable.
• If you are still not happy arrange a meeting with the schools governors.

Cyber Bullying.

A new form of bullying, which is becoming more frequent due to the rise in younger children having mobile phones and using the internet is Cyber Bullying.

Cyber bullying can consist of sending abusive texts, emails and posts on social network pages. This brand of bullying is so much more cowardly, as without the face to face contact it is easier for the bully to be even more abusive with words.

For the child, being Cyber Bullied may very well become a worse experience than being physically bullied at school. The bullying continues when they leave the playground, they can be taunted in their own bedroom at any time of the day.

To stop cyber bullying:

• Keep a record of any text messages/emails/online messages
• Block mobile numbers from your child’s phones, speak to your network about this.
• If you are aware your child is on network sites such as Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, they are able to block people from viewing there personal pages.
• For further advice visit www.stoptextbully.com

Bullying is huge problem throughout schools, but with numerous charities supporting anti-bullying campaigns, together we can all beat the bully.

Useful Links

www.bullying.co.uk - This charity has answered more than 42,500 emails, many of them from parents and children in total despair. Well over one million individual visitors have also been on the site for information and advice on all aspects of bullying.

www.beatbullying.org - UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, Beatbullying, says it welcomes the new DCSF guidance; however guidance is not enough to win the war on bullying.

www.childline.org.uk - ChildLine is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK. Children and young people can call us on 0800 1111 to talk about any problem – our counsellors are always here to help you sort it out.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Advice For Parents, Help & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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