How to Combat Bullying in Our School System

Acts of bullying can be found at any age level but it is more prevalent between the ages of 10 and 18. In junior high or middle school there is a higher risk of bullying noted, the most popular opinion of this is because our children are reaching their puberty age and want to assert themselves. They no longer walk with their teachers down the hallway for lunch and breaks. They have more responsibility when they reach middle school so they are looking to make an identity for themselves, unfortunately bullying all to often is the rough they choices.

What can parents do if they suspect their child is being bullied? First, recognize the signs.

If there is a noted change in their normal behavior, there is a chance that they are being bullied.
They will become withdrawn, they will refuse to participate in school related activities, their grades may begin to slip, and they might begin to make excuses to stay home from school most likely pretending to be sick, they might experience sleeplessness or lost of appetite. For the most part, they are not going to share their fears with their parents because they will fear it might get back to the person who is bullying them and the situation could get worst. Up to us to draw out of them, the thing is troubling them. How do we draw information out of them? By asking questions but ask in a loving and caring manner and assure them that what they tell us will be dealt with in a way that will not cause further harm to them.

Our questions need to be direct and clear but not to provoke more fear in them.

Instead of asking, is anyone bullying you? We can say is there anyone troubling you? A more gentle approach is more affective in getting information out of them.
It might take several approaches but do not give up they will eventually start talking and when they do make sure to assure them that we will deal with the situation in such a way that there will be no further harm to them.
When a child confesses his concern to us, a burden is lifted off their mind so it is important for parents to follow through on their word to them.
If we do not then they will lose confidence in us and think that there is no hope for them.
Once we have identified the bully then we will need to go to the school and alert the principal and teachers of the incident or incidents most schools have a policy against bullying and they will react accordingly. They will begin to observe our child and the bully more closely and if an incident is found, they will deal with it according to their policy.

If we do not see any results in a few days and our child continue to complain then it is time to take the matter to the superintendent, he or she will contact the principal and teachers about the incident and together they will deal with the problem.
Sometime the punishment for bullying can be severe. If possible contact the bully's parents but do not approach them in an angry way because it might be possible that they are unaware of their child's behavior.

We do not want to provoke them by our angry outburst; nothing will be accomplished that way.

We should tell our child that he is just as good as the next person.

Help him to gain confidence in himself and soon he will take care of the bullying problem himself but until he reaches that point, we need to be his anchor.

Stay on top of the situation, if by chance the school do not have a bullying policy they can create one, if they do have one request to see it to be sure that what our child is experiencing is covered in it.

Do everything we can to ensure a safe environment for our child not only will we be helping him but also we will be helping all the other children who are prone to bullying.