Hello All!

“Beating the Bully” will be taking a summer vacation and will be back blogging on August 13th! Until then I’ll have some of the most read posts up for your enjoyment.

Much of what is written about bullying focuses on what to do if your child is a victim. Little is written on what to do if your child is actually a bully. When parents find out their child has been bullying others, I have witnessed them initially respond in a variety of different ways: utter shame and guilt, tempered anger, quiet embarrassment or denial and defensiveness.

Neither response is ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ and frankly, I would never want to be in that position.

We want our children to be viewed in the best light possible. Being labeled a bully can inadvertently foster a social role/expectation among a child’s peer group and school community, thus perpetuating the bullying cycle.  

The first step to stop bullying is having the child’s community at large - parents, school staff and most importantly peers – respond to it when it’s happening.

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