Check with their teachers every month to ensure that they are doing well
in school, and ask if the teacher has observed them being bullied or
bullying classmates. Observation is particularly important regarding
cyber bullying. Make certain that your children only use a computer in a
public area of the home so you can monitor their online activity.
The best way to know that your school is protecting your children is to
communicate regularly. Know the difference between bullying and normal
conflicts. Bullying is abuse that is intentional and repeated. A
one-time conflict between people when they argue or disagree is
unfortunate but is not bullying.
If your child reports this kind of incident, investigate his response to
the conflict. If need be, instruct more appropriate ways to handle the
situation in the future. This will help your child from being bullied
or doing any bullying himself.
Parents can get involved in the school through organizations such as the
PTA and by volunteering in the classroom. Parent organizations often
bring bullying education programs to schools. Students learn about the
risks and dangers associated with bullying, as well as methods to
prevent it from occurring.
One of the most important elements of this type of educational
programming is that it empowers bystanders. Most students involved in a
bullying situation are neither bullies nor the one being bullied. They
are bystanders. Bystanders have incredible power to help the situation
because they generally outnumber the bullies by five to one or more.
Thus, one step to protect your children from bullying is to tell them
how to protect other students. Report bullying to teachers; gather other
bystanders to tell the bully to stop; or help the target to get away
from the situation by inviting him or her to participate in a new
activity. When parents and teachers educate students to be active and
protective bystanders, bullying will be less likely to occur.
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