Here are some more tips on helping your child cope with bullies in school.
IF your child is getting bullied at school, don't take the matter lightly. Although random incidents of bullying and fistfights are fine, if it gets very repetitive, and if the same child is always picking on your child, it is time you sat up and took notice. Here are some more tips on helping your child cope with bullies in school.
Transport
If your child often gets taunted in the school bus, consider discontinuing the service. Start picking up and dropping your child to school yourself or enrolling your child in a car pool. If the school is not too far, this shouldn't be much of a problem. Also, your child will form close friendships with those in his carpool. If these students are senior to your child, so much the better, because bullies will stay away from children with senior friends!
New School
Sometimes simply changing your child's school may be the answer to the solution. This should however be resorted to only after you have tried speaking to the teacher, and speaking to the parents of the bullies, and encountered uncooperative people. There is no need to expect your little child to undergo the daily beatings and taunts, especially if they don't subside. Your child will only grow up with bad memories of his school, or with severe personality issues. Your child should not have to face, deal with or learn to cope with such violence or hatred at such a young age.
Look at your child from the eyes of the bullies and see what the reason could possibly be. You can react accordingly.
Self Defence Classes
Is your child slight of built? If so, consider enrolling him in self-defence classes. Let the instructor know that your child is being bullied at school, and you would want him to be able to strike back. It is possible that as soon as the bullies know that your child has started Karate or Kung Fu classes, they will start being a little wary of him without him really resorting to any form of physical action.
Appearance
Kruthi Mathani was constantly teased by her classmates. She was in a convent, as was not subject to any violence as such, but she was constantly made fun of. The prime reason for this was her appearance. She wasn't fat or ugly, just very unkempt. Her hair was never really combed, her uniform was constantly dirty, her shoes were stained, and there always seemed to be a few hooks missing from her belt or shirt. The result? Her classmates would sometimes throw pencil shavings in her hair, and other times they would lay bets saying that the loser would have to touch Kruthi. If anyone rubbed against her in the school corridors they would immediately start shouting "Oh yuck, I touched Kruthi!" Naturally such kind of behaviour can be deeply disturbing, and Kruthi detested school. What was surprising was the way her mother sent her to school, looking so untidy.
As a parent, don't neglect your child's appearance. Make sure that she looks clean and well groomed when she leaves the home. If she has more body hair than most, let her start bleaching her moustache at a younger age - especially if she is conscious about it.
Bullying at School - Part I
