How to help a child victim of bullying: 7 tips against bullying

Several tips on how to deal with bullying or school harassment against a child or adolescent.

School harassment, also known as bullying, is an all too common occurrence in schools.is an all too common occurrence in primary and secondary schools. It usually occurs with greater incidence in the secondary stage, when young people are going through the adolescent age.

In this article we are going to see how to help a boy or girl victim of bullyingIn this article we will learn to identify when a young person can be suffering from bullying, and we will know the best ways to confront this situation by assisting him or her.

How to identify bullying?

To know how to help a child victim of bullying, the first step is to identify bullying. Generally young people usually keep the situation to themselves and do not tell adults about it..

This refusal to talk about it responds to the inadequate feelings that children experience when they are victims of bullying; they usually feel minimized emotionally and psychologically, which leads them to think that adults will perceive them in the same way.

They are afraid to talk about it because they don't want their caregivers to feel disappointed in them because they think they are having a bad attitude.They are afraid to talk about it because they do not want their caregivers to feel disappointed in them, considering that they are having a "weak" attitude towards the situation of being victims of bullying. As caregivers of a child or adolescent, we must be attentive to their behavior.

There are several indicators that can serve as warning signs that can alert us about the possibility that the youngster could be being abused at school. The flattened emotional tone is a constant; but in addition to this there are some specific signs that can help us recognize cases of bullying. Without the following.

• Evasive children in front of eye contact.
• Difficulty sleeping at night.
• They resist going to school.
• Are socially isolated.
• They return from school with bruises or blows.
• They return from school hungry despite bringing food.
• They constantly ask for more money.

These indicators should be based on facts that arise with a certain regularity, as well as beingThey should also be accompanied by a decrease in the young person's affectivity. Otherwise, they could be due to a specific situation unrelated to bullying.

How to help children victims of bullying?

In the following lines we will see a series of practical advice to help children and adolescents to face bullying. However, we must keep in mind that bullying is not an individual psychological problem, but a psychosocial problem, which affects several people at the same time and is linked to a certain context.

1. Let the young person know that he/she should not be ashamed of it

The first thing to do is give him/her the necessary confidence to express his/her real situation without any fearLet him/her see that he/she is not the only person to whom this situation has happened and that he/she should not feel bad about it. It should be emphasized that it is the abuser who is making the mistake, not him/her.

2. Combat the feeling of guilt

Those young victims of abuse at school develop an intense sense of irrational guilt, based on the idea that they are to blame. the idea that they are to blame for suffering the abuse because they were not able to defend themselves.. As caregivers we need to talk to them and help them change this inappropriate thinking.

We must make them understand that it is not their fault that other people have the wrong attitudes, and that the solution is not to resort to violence, but to talk to the authorities of the institution about what is happening. the solution is not to resort to violence, but to talk to the authorities of the institution about what is happening.. The best thing to do is to go to the school with the young person and file a complaint.

3. Congratulate the young person for expressing himself/herself

Considering how difficult it may be for the young person to express his or her negative experience, it is a good idea to congratulate him or her for doing so. It is important to reaffirm their self-esteem by letting them know how brave they are.It is important to reaffirm his or her self-esteem by letting him or her know how brave he or she has been for daring to tell what is happening.

4. Avoid downplaying the importance

In some cases parents or caregivers do not give the real importance to the issue and take this situation as something natural in the child's life. and take this situation as something natural in the young person's life.The truth is that if measures are not taken in time, the results could be very harmful to the child. Many youngsters, because they feel misunderstood, have even attempted against their own physical integrity.

The ideal is to act as soon as we have suspicions that something bad may be happening at school.

5. Maintain frequent communication with teachers

One way to prevent and deal with bullying when it is already occurring is to maintain good communication with the children's teachers, so that they will tell us about the bullying.If they see unusual behavior in the young person, and if it is bullying, take action together to stop it.

In fact, it is necessary to assume that acting against bullying is not an activity directed exclusively towards the individual who is suffering it: it is necessary to do everything possible to introduce changes in the social context as well, and for this it is necessary to coordinate with the educational community.

6. Educating in emotional intelligence

Instilling in the child the ability to recognize his or her own emotions is essential so that in a stressful situation they do not allow anger or frustration to make them do things that are counterproductive to their situation.

What we are looking for with this is that the young person is able to control his emotions and not to act at the first impulse. To achieve this, we must talk to him about the advantages of solving difficulties through regular channels and not resorting to violent actions. not resorting to violent actions.

• You might be interested in: "What is Emotional Intelligence?"

7. Teach him/her to prioritize the quality of relationships

It is useful to show the child that sometimes it is beneficial to move away from certain people who do not contribute anything positive, even if they are apparently popular or charismatic in the eyes of others, and to teach them that they should take into consideration how they feel when they are with someone in particular to assess whether the relationship is worthwhile.

This encourages that they do not change their interests or their way of being because they are part of a group where they are bullied. group in which they are bullied. Finding support networks beyond those social circles in which they suffer attacks is essential to protect their self-esteem and not to adopt a role of chronic submission.

Bibliographical references:

• Barri, F. (2006). S.O.S. Bullying: Preventing School Bullying and Improving Coexistence. Praxis, S.A.
• De Acevedo, A. (2010). Alguien me está molestando: el bullying. Ediciones B.
• Olivares, J. Y Méndez, F. X. (2008). Behavior Modification Techniques. Madrid: Biblioteca nueva.
• Rueda, J. M. (1992). La intervención psicosocial. The community psychologist. Intervención psicosocial, 1, 27-41.