We have already discussed how to recognized bullying in it's different forms. Now, we are going to cover the ways that you can tell if your kids are being bullied and what you can do about it. Often, this is a touchy subject so you will want to make sure you have the best advice possible, which we are providing, to help you get your kids to open up about the bullying and not feel like they are going to be targeted by telling you about what is going on.
How to Know if Your Child is Being Bullied
The first thing that you need to do is take notice of your kids and how they are acting. For example, has their behavior changed recently? Do they seem a little bit more drawn in? Do they have unexplained bruises? Are they avoiding eye contact with you? All of these are going to be some of the key points you need to look for in your kids.
At the same time, though, you will notice that you need to talk to your kids as well. Just simply asking them about how the day went and seeing what is going on. If they were talking about friends and what happened before and not talking about that now, then you may want to consider digging a little bit deeper to see what is going on.
How to Talk to Your Child about Bullying
The first thing that you need to do is get your kids to open up a little bit. This does not mean that you need to pry because this will cause the kids to draw in even more. Instead, you need to gently coax information out of your kids and when they share information with you, do not be judgemental about what is going on. If you are judgemental the kids will think they did something wrong, which is far from the case. Instead, you need to just gently ask questions and start to use some detective working to get the information out slowly.
The next thing that you need to do is make sure you assure the kids they are safe. This will give them the reminder that you do care and you can be a confidant they can trust in. Then you will want to discuss what is potentially causing the bullying as well so you know what is going on from your child's perspective.
What to Do Once Your Child Tell You They Are Being Bullied
Once you learned your kids are being bullied the first thing is to not overreact. This will only get the kids defenses up and they may not tell you any more information. What you need to do is come up with an action plan on your own, but at the top of the list should be addressing the issue with the location the bullying is happening. If this is at school talk to the principal about the issue, sports teams the coaches, and social media would want to start to report the occasions to the administrators of the site.
Bullying is something that happens and needs to be controlled. Once you know how to tell if your kid is being bullied you should learn the steps that are needed to prevent it and how to talk to your kids. Then knowing how to address the issue is the next step that you need to do. Then you can finally take and provide your kids the protection they need to have.
