When we start to think about bullying, it’s important to understand exactly what bullying is and what it is not.
At Life Education, we believe that bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm.
Technology can help stop or fuel bullying in schools
Similarly, any child can become a target of bullying. They may be seen as ‘different’, a threat (possibly if they are a high achiever or are just someone everyone likes) or simply lack a support network.
It’s amazing how often conversations about bullying or cyberbullying come up these days: whether they happen in the playground, on the sports fields, in the workplace, on social media or at home. Many of them are in response to an incident of bullying being exposed in the media or a disturbing episode closer to home.
As parents, it’s time to revisit bullying and turn our conversations towards prevention. Let’s focus on the key social and emotional skills our children need to be respectful and kind and avoid being a target for bullying behaviour.
Developing empathy is a strong preventative strategy, but there are other things we can do to help ensure our children are less likely to be the target of bullying as well as less likely to display bullying behaviour themselves.
One of the best ways to do this is to model the behaviour you’d like to see in your children. Don’t just tell them what to do, give them opportunities to learn and practice things like:
With parents and children working together on these skills, they can help develop sensitivity to, and appreciation of, others around them.