Bullying: Teaching and Protecting our Kids

    Bullying has become somewhat of an epidemic in our schools and playgrounds in the last number of years.  Chances are either your child or your child's friends have been involved in bullying, as victim or bully.  As a teacher, I always kept my eyes and ears open for any signs.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult for teachers to see it happening.  Kids are very clever and just like we can get away with speeding, they can also get away with bullying.  So, as a parent, I was happy to see an article, Teaching and Protecting our Kids, in our local paper about bullying.  It was written by Suzanne Elston and had a number of very helpful suggestions that I would like to quote here.
    "In order to protect all of our children, we need to watch for early warning sign that indicate a child is feeling bullied or isolated.  These include:

• Children who don't have anything nice to say about other kids, their teachers or school.
• Children who isolate themselves socially and don't have any close friends.
• Children who are always plugged in to video games, particularly violent ones.
• Children who complain, 'Kids are being mean to me.'
• Children who spend a lot of time on the Internet, in chat rooms or using MSN messenger."

The article quotes Barbara Coloroso, a parenting expert and author.  I have read her articles, one of her books and watched her videos.  We even used her at teacher's college.  In this particular article Coloroso says, "the antidote to isolation is to teach our children to care deeply, share generously, and help willingly."   We need to teach our kids that it's okay to tell a teacher or other trusted adult when they see bullying occurring or are the victim of bullying.  She talks about how important it is to "keep an open dialogue, pay attention, get involved, and never, ever look away."  And as an advertising campaign here in Canada stated a while ago, bystanders have a huge part in the bullying.  If there is no one to watch, often the bullying stops.
    If you have concerns that a child or teen is being bullied, please go and talk to their teacher or principal about it.  Then some solutions can be put into place to put an end to it.  When we work together, so much more can be done.