3 Ways you can help your child deal with school bullies

[AD] When it comes to sending your child to school, it can come with many risks. Will they be happy? Will they make friends? And the most dreadful one, what if they get bullied? Bullying can come in different forms such as physical, verbal or emotional. With the world being led by technology, bullying has become easier to carry out given that individuals can hide behind a screen under a false username. This type of bullying is known as cyberbullying and is just as distressing. Whilst it's difficult to directly intervene with the situation, it is important to teach your child what measures need to be put in place if ever faced with an unpleasant situation with a peer. Below are a few ways on how to help your child deal with school bullies.

_{[Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash]}

How to deal with school bullies

Teach them how to respond

When it comes to responding to bullies, that’s usually where children get stuck. Which often paves a clear path for bullies to take. Take the time to practice different ways to respond to a bully with your child. At first this may seem silly, but your child will understand the logistics behind it eventually. Show them how to be direct and affirmative. Phrases such as ‘leave me alone’ or ‘I haven’t got time for this’ can throw the bully off. This is because they don’t expect their victims to be unphased by their unkind acts.

Teach them how to be confident

Unfortunately, bullies target those that come across as weak. This is not to say that confidence will keep bullies away, but it will increase the chances of them getting scared and leaving your child alone. Remind your child that how they look when they encounter a bully is more important than the words that come out their mouth. Teach them how to have strong and confident body language. Hopefully this will overpower the bullies. 

Contact the school

If you notice that the bullying seems to be ongoing no matter your child’s efforts, make the effort to talk to the school and the offender's parents. You need to show as much confidence as your child does in these types of situations. Proving that you won’t back down until the bullying ends will speak volumes.