Bullying with a Capital “B” Part 1

5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

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Bullying is becoming a huge issue affecting younger and younger children. Comparitech conducted a survey of over 1000 parents of children over the age of 5 with these results:

• 47.7% of parents with children ages 6-10 reported their children were bullied.
• 56.4% of parents with children ages 11-13 reported their children were bullied. (https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/boundless-bullies/

Bullying increases the risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, dropping out of school and even suicide according to the National Bullying Prevention Center.

So let’s look at the definition of bullying and the different kinds of bullying.As defined by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Resources, bullying is aggressive, repeated, unwanted behavior that includes an imbalance of power between the children. Kids who bully use their power—whether their physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity to control or harm others.

Bullying can be classified into four types: verbal, social, physical and damage to property.

1. Verbal bullying is saying or writing something that is cruel or intended to harm, and includes such things as making inappropriate sexual comments or threatening to cause pain.
2. Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships and includes spreading rumors or causing intentional public embarrassment.
3. Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body and includes actions like hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, sexually abusing, or taking one’s possessions.
4. The fourth type of bullying involves any type of intentional damage to a child’s property.

And now because of the prevalence of media technology (phones, email, chartrooms, instant messaging, or online posts) children must deal electronic bullying or cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is not a different type of bullying; it just involves an electronic context. It includes verbal bullying and social bullying.

Only about 20% to 30% of students who are bullied notify adults about the bullying. If your child admits to being bullied, here are some ways you can help:

1. Let them know you are on their side.
2. Help them realize they are not to take the blame for being bullied. The bully is the disturbed one, not them.
3. Just because a bully says something about them, does not make it true.
4. Remind them also of their value in God’s sight.
5. Help them understand that no one can make them feel inferior without their permission.

Next week we will look at some traits of a bullied child and ways you can help (for the lack of a better word, “bully-proof” your child.

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Thanks to my Virtual Assistant, Alyssa Avant (https://alyssaavantandcompany.com), for her tech genius and help with this podcast.