Back to school, back to bullying?

We certainly hope that back to school does not mean back to bullying! Unfortunately being bullied at school is the reality for too many children. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, "Bullying has become a tidal wave of epic proportions."

Everyone's Role

In her book The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander, Barbara Coloroso explains "Breaking the cycle of violence involves more than merely identifying and stopping the bully. It requires that we examine why and how a child becomes a bully or a target of a bully (and sometimes both) as well as the role bystanders play in perpetuating the cycle. A deadly combination is a bully who gets what he wants from his target; a bullied child who is afraid to tell; bystanders who either watch, participate in the bullying, or look away; and adults who discount bullying as teasing, not tormenting;"

When Your Child is the Bully

If your child has bullied someone, it's important to help him build his skills so that he finds better ways of acting in the future. Punishing him by grounding him or taking away privileges may only encourage him to find ways to avoid being caught in the future.

(read the rest of the article at Priceless Parenting)

3 comments:

Adam said...

I just wrote a comprehensive post on how parents can help kids cope with back to school anxiety if they've been bullied.
http://emergingcenter.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/back-to-school-anxiety/

Hope this helps

Unknown said...

Billy Lucas http://billylucas.org is the latest suicide due to bullying. Students at his Indiana high school pushed him to it. His principal's only defense was that he didn't see his school being that different from others, I guess, therefore he meant it wasn't his fault. Well, lots are culpable. Phoebe Prince and Billy Lucas didn't need to die. They were God's children trying to find their way.

We must defend our children. If you know of a bully in your school, report him/her to http://bullyalarm.us Then, for goodness' sake, protect your fellow student/friend.
James Larson

Kathy Slattengren said...

I'm deeply saddened to hear about Billy Lucas taking his life due to bullying. Thank you for passing along the information on the bully alarm site.

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