There is a lot of talk about bullying these days. We can define #bullying among children as aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power or strength.
A child who is being bullied has a hard time defending him or herself. Usually, the bullying is repeated over time and when it becomes habitual it is the hardest to deal with.
Bullying can take many forms; such as hitting (physical bullying), teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying), and intimidation such as social exclusion (this is non-verbal or #emotional bullying).
Finally, and in my opinion, probably the most common these days is cyberbullying, which is sending insulting messages by phone, #Facebook, or email.
So what can we do as parents to help our children, especially when they often won’t share what is happening with us? There is a lot that can be done to help our children.
SELF-DEFENSE = CONFIDENCE
Bring them to self-defense or martial arts program, to help build self-esteem and learn actual #defense techniques.
TALK TO YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL
Find out what your local school administration has in place for anti-bullying measures and help enforce them.
The main thing to remember is that once the bullying has become habitual, it will not stop unless the child stands up for him or herself, or someone intervenes. The best way we can help our kids is to help enforce positive behaviors and make sure they know it is ok to stand up for themselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Faett is the director of Victory Martial Arts Michigan and a 6th Degree Black Belt/ Master Nominee.