Would you put your child in a bubble if you could? It’s something all parents have thought of at one point or another, right?
Honestly, I’m not one of those parents who would put their kids in a bubble. I understand the need for them to go through some life lessons, but to a certain point.
One of the things that I have focused on is showing kids empathy because as we have all witnesses, people without empathy are more likely to intentionally hurt others.
Then, there’s the importance of learning to deal with one’s own emotions. When children do not know how to release what they’re feeling, eventually those emotions come out in certain ways.
Sometimes pain and frustration come out in the form of anger. When this happens to children, even they don’t often understand why they’re feeling.
At times, their emotions are taken out in the form of anger, mischief, or bullying. No parent wants to find out that their kid is the one causing others so much pain.
If you google the word “bully”, you’re going to find tons of results about how to help the victim, but not an equal amount of information about the bully.
Keep in mind that children who bully are someone’s child. Parents who find out that their child is a bully to others might not always know how to handle the situation or know how to help their child without further aggravating the situation or their mental state of mind.
There are many reasons why kids bully others. Sometimes, they don’t know that what they’re doing is bullying. That might happen because they might be experiencing bullying at school, among friends at a place of worship, or even at home.
Other kids don’t realize that they’re bullying because they justify their actions based on certain strong beliefs about their victims.
They might also see their actions of bullying as harmless teasing especially when they aren’t taught what bullying is and the many ways it can look like.
Then there are those who have emotional or mental health challenges that require professional help.
So, I’ve done a bit of research about things that parents can do to help their children if they are bullying others.
I know that dealing with challenging children can be very difficult. I often wonder if I’m showing them negative examples of communication or human interaction. But, I’d like to think that I’m doing well so far because they don’t show signs of belong bullied. Every parent does their best and I’m sure that we all might be doing some things wrong because after all, we’re figuring it out as we go. And, so are kids.
So, if your child is a bully, don’t lose hope. Show them love, empathy, and healthy communication skills especially when dealing with strong emotions. If you need to get professional help, get it without any shame!
The main goal here is to help children stop bullying because when they do, they hurt themselves just as much as the people they’re hurting. Sometimes even more.
If you have tips you’d want to share about how to help kids who bully, share them in the comments below. Your tips might help parents and children who really need them.
-Dali
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Most kids NEVER tell an adult that they're being bullied because they try to handle the situation alone or they fear that telling an adult might make matters worse.
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