Bullying Can Affect Your Child's K-12 Education

Bullying in school is an age-old problem. Deciding on how to deal with it is an age-old problem as well. Experts differ on the best solution. Should kids stick up for themselves and fight back? Ignore the bullies and look the other way, if possible? Tell their parents? Tell an adult in charge? There are advantages and disadvantages to them all. What the best answer is might come down to the particular situation. Every problem is unique, after all, and so then must be the resolution.

Fighting the Bully

It's hard to blame kids for wanting to fight back when they are being bullied. It's a primal instinct to defend themselves. But what is fighting back? It can be the physical sort, where the kid responds to the bullying with a punch or shove, for example. Or it could be a verbal sort of fighting back. Standing up to the bullying with fighting words. “You don't scare me. I'm not going to do whatever you tell me to do.” Both can be effective, but one stands the possibility of real harm to both kids. Engaging in a physical fight can be both dangerous and counterproductive. Dangerous because real, lasting injury can be done to both kids and counterproductive because it can escalate the situation rather than calm it. Of course, kids should stand tall and not bow down to a bully, but this doesn't have to involve physical violence.

Ignoring The Bully

For some kids, ignoring the bully can be a tempting prospect. It can scary to stand up to someone who is either physically or verbally threatening. And, in some cases, bullies will give up if they are not getting the response they want from their victim, that is, someone who is visibly affected by their bullying. This is actually a great first response to the situation; it requires restraint but can be effective. (Of course, if the bullying is physical, then ignoring it is not a good solution.) If the bullying continues, then other actions should be taken to get it to stop.

Informing the Parents

Kids should definitely tell their parents if they are being bullied. But it should not be the only action that they take because parents are limited in what they can affect on school campus. It can be a comfort for kids to know that their parents are supporting them and so kids should be counseled to let their parents know if bullying does occur, on or off campus. However, parents or their kids need to take the next step and let the school know, as well.

Notifying the school

There are a lot students at any given school and only so many authorities. This can make it difficult, even for the most vigilant teachers and administrators, to always know when bullying is happening amongst the students. Especially when one considers that bullying is not always blatant; it can be more of an insidious form of bullying that is less obvious but just as harmful. Kids and/or their parents should notify the school immediately so that actions can be taken to get the situation under control. The resolution can be as simple as changing class schedules to remove the child from the situation. Of course, sometimes more drastic measures must be taken. In the end, though, bullies rarely stop bullying of their own accord- something must be done.