How to talk to your children about bullying

Tips on how to talk about bullying properly with your young children.

Bullying is a practice of harassment and intimidation that many children and adolescents suffer every day, having detected an increase of cases in recent years, as well as hundreds of victims who end up committing suicide for not being able to bear so much suffering because of the bullying that other people have committed on them for a long time.

You should know how to talk to your children about bullying, since it should be noted that suicide is currently the leading cause of unnatural death among young people, and bullying is one of the main causes behind it. It is therefore necessary to take action and raise awareness among the general population on such an important issue.

In this article you will find a set of guidelines on how to talk to your children about bullying and you know some signs that may show signs that your child could be suffering from bullying.

Tips on how to talk to your children about bullying

The bullying is a way of harassment and intimidation that many children and adolescents suffer in the school and extracurricular environment, being the harasser or harassers normally other children or adolescents who attend the same educational center, reason why it is usually the place where the mistreatment is unchained.

It can also occur in a place where both the victim and the bully do some activity (for example, in a soccer team) and in these times, with the rise of social networks, in many cases the bullying is perpetrated through them, being what is known as cyberbullying.As a result, bullies now have the possibility of continuing to harass their victim outside school and out-of-school hours, so that the victim may feel even more harassed. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that schools and parents acquire guidelines to detect these cases.

Here are some tips on how to talk to your children about bullying in order to help them and take effective measures as soon as possible.

1. Choose a suitable place

To start talking to your children about bullying it is important to find a suitable place where they feel comfortable (for example, the living room of your home, sitting in an armchair); of course, avoiding distractions that distract them from the bullying, avoiding distractions that may distract your child from the topic to be discussed, such as mobile phones, cell phones, etc.).such as a cell phone, tablet or television.

Once you are in a comfortable and suitable place to have a conversation, you can start by asking your child how he/she is doing at school or about the people he/she usually interacts with during recess or lunch, always in a calm manner, conveying confidence to your child.

2. Open communication

It is important to teach children that they can have open communication with their parents. open communication with their parents, always respecting their privacy, so that they feel more confident.It is important to teach children that they can have an open communication with their parents, always respecting their privacy, so that they feel more confident to talk to their parents about issues that worry them or even torment them, as may be the case of being bullied. It is true that even if there is open communication with parents it will be difficult for the child to tell them that they are being bullied, but they are still more likely to do so than if they are not used to communicating openly with them.

To be able to talk to your children about bullying there must be between them and the parents an open communication, so it can be useful to have a space at home where children are actively listened to about their interests and what worries them, and the reason for their concern may be a hypothetical case of being bullied.

3. To explain to the children what bullying is

Once you have established an environment of trust that enables open communication to talk to your children about bullying, it is important to talk to them about bullying, so that they understand that it is a more serious issue than they might think and, in this way, that it does not become a taboo subject, that it does not become a taboo subject at home at home and thus feel more confident to talk about it with their parents.

4. Expose children that behaviors such as bullying should not be allowed.

When talking to your children about bullying it is also important to talk to them about the different ways in which it can be carried out, such as, for example, by bullying a classmate and encouraging other classmates to do the same, through insults, hitting, stealing personal objects, making up negative things about another child and spreading them, bullying through social networks (cyberbullying) and many other ways.

At this point it is important to keep in mind the importance of be familiar with the online experience of your children and other people of the same age because this way you can control that they make a correct use of these technologies because they are a medium in which they can consume content that encourages violence and is also a medium that is often used to perpetrate harassment or bullying (cyberbullying). Children should be aware that bullying through social networks is just as serious as physically violent behavior.

This will allow raise their children's awareness of the seriousness of these behaviors, so that they are aware that they should be so that they are aware that they should be totally forbidden and that if they suffer any of them they should seek help immediately, starting by communicating it to their parents so that they can take the appropriate measures (for example, contact the school in case it is the place where bullying usually takes place, file a complaint, etc.).

5. Practice ways to respond to bullying

When talking to your children about bullying, it is also important to teach them how to act in case they are suffering or see that someone around them is being bullied.

If they are the ones who are being bullied, they should learn how to deal with these situations in case they ever experience them. To do so, they should know how to identify when a bullying situation is occurring and, if they are experiencing any type of bullying, they should tell the bully "stop" or tell him/her to stop with a firm voice and ask for help if that is what they are experiencing, they should tell the bully "stop" or tell him/her to stop in a firm voice and ask for help if that doesn't work.. It should also be explained to them that they should never give in to provocations because that will not solve the issue.

In case you are watching another child being bullied or cyberbullied, instead of being a passive bystander, what you should do is to report the bullying to an adult who can intervene.. Children should be taught that by telling an adult they do not become "whistleblowers" or accusers, since the adults they tell will take action without revealing who the whistleblower was, thus helping a person who is suffering.

It should also be explained to them the consequences of not saying anything when they are aware that another child is being bullied in order to make them aware of the issue and seek help, as this is an act of bullying.This is an act of courage and compassion for another person who is suffering. Therefore, it is also important to explain to them how to seek help so that they know who to turn to. Of course, they can always start by telling their parents so that they can be the ones to seek help.

It is also important that they learn how to help children who are being bullied to integrate socially by making them feel welcome in their own home. by making them feel welcome in your groupThis can help them feel supported and supported by other peers, which can encourage the prevention of future cases of bullying.

When you want to talk to your children about bullying, being very young, a good option to address this issue would be to communicate with them through play when; so they could express themselves through the behaviors performed through their dolls.

6. Be an example for the children

In addition to the importance of talking to your children about bullying, it is essential to teach your children how to deal with other people, both children and adults, from education and respect, so that they learn values that promote the inclusion of all at a social level and thus help other children who are being mistreated and excluded to integrate into the group..

To this end, it is important to lead by example, so that they see their parents that one should act appropriately at all times and be tolerant of everyone, without giving them a hard time or excluding people who are having a hard time.

In addition to being an example to them about the right way to behave, it is also important to help children build their self-confidence. To this end, it is good to encourage them to take part in a variety of extracurricular activities that promote good habits, new learning and the establishment of healthy social relationships with other people of the same age who share similar tastes and interests to their own.