What is Bullying? Wikipedia’s definition of Bullying:
Bullying may be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person. One of the most painful aspects of bullying is that it is relentless. Most people can take one episode of teasing or name calling or being shunned at the mall. However, when it goes on and on, bullying can put a person in a state of constant fear.
We as parents, may not realize that our kids are being bullied. It is very important to keep communication open on a daily basis with your children, and talk about as much as your child will share with you. Parents can share stories from their own past, and recall a bullying circumstance that may have happened to them to also include the outcome from the bullying may it be remorse from them doing the bullying or sadness from them being bullied. This could open the subject up for your child to share his/her own problems and depend on you for the support he/she will need to get through the situation and how to handle it. When we as parents step in, our strong points can bring hope to this predator/ victim situation. The child should learn how to stop the bully themselves, and learn how to regain their own power. Depending on the viciousness of the bully, this can be as easy as standing up for yourself and saying “no”.
Managing a bully can be challenging, especially when the threats or the name-calling occur online. Social media has become a display place for meanness not seen in generations past. Cyberbullying has become a common way to strike out at other children and the psychological destruction to the victims can be overwhelming. Stories are with no doubt easily spread, and more often than not believed when broadcasted online.
When it becomes known to a parent of online violence, it is important to not strike back or become...