October is National Bullying Prevention Month. According to PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center: 160,000 kids stay home from school each day to avoid being bullied. Everyone plays a role in preventing bullying, whether you are a parent, a friend, a teacher, a principal, a neighbor, etc. Here are a few tips to deal with bullying:
1. Take time to listen to children and teens. Do not dismiss their concerns as “petty.” Often times you may hear that a certain child called them a name, talked about them on social media, or spread a rumor. Remember to address their concerns early before the verbal aggression turns into physical aggression.
2. Advocate for your child at school. If there is a serious concern or threat of bullying, whether verbal or physical, in-person or online, you may have to inform school authorities of another child’s behaviors. Most schools have protocols for bullying in place, which may consist of keeping a more watchful eye on the issue, separating the child within the classroom, or in more intense cases, placing children in separate classrooms or taking disciplinary action.
3. Remember to use your resources. Some helpful resources with additional information to prevent bullying, information related to state laws that address bullying, as well as ways you can help to prevent bullying can be found at these sites: www.pacer.org/bullying and www.stopbullying.gov