Now that my site has been up and running for several weeks, it is time to refresh my blog topic. I hope to engage your interest and participation so that we can learn
from each other on a casual and friendly basis. It has been suggested that I use this forum to explore the
topic of bullying among young children and I am quite happy to do this. Let me be clear though, I am not an expert on
this or any other matters involving childhood behavior and solutions, but as a
parent and auntie to many little ones, I do have opinions and a desire to
contribute my thoughts and recommendations on the matter. Haven’t we all witnessed bullying among young children –
even toddlers and preschoolers? Such
incidents can range from teasing, taunting, threatening and even physically
attacking the victim. This may sound heavy but I am thinking along
the lines of the child who hasn’t yet learned that it is not okay to hurt
another child to get what he or she wants. Or, because the child is not yet
sensitive to the feelings of other children, threatens and even carries out
attacks such as biting, hitting, taking toys and well, you get the
picture and little doubt, have effective ways of dealing with this. Of course, these are common
challenges that most parents can appreciate and so, my objective is to share
ways to teach sensitivity to these kids – what you feel works and what doesn’t. To start it off, the first thought that comes to my mind is
‘role reversal’. If the children are old
enough to understand and participate, they would switch roles so that the
person who has bullying tendencies gets to know just how it feels to be on the
receiving end and then tell you how that made him or her feel and promise not
to do it again. This is just one
solution that can be incorporated into a sensitivity program and perhaps
adapted to any age but can only be successful if they internalize the
lesson. Then we think about what we can do as parents to set an age
appropriate example for our little ones.
Given that kids are the proverbial little copy cats, we tend to monitor
our own behavior to ensure that they don’t emulate the wrong behaviors. Kids will always judge their parents to be
perfect role models and that carries tremendous weight in deciding what we
allow them to witness. As I stated earlier, I am not an expert, just a lady who
cares very much that anti-bullying strategies are implemented at a very young
age to avoid the serious consequences that are occurring more regularly in our
schools. If not curbed at the outset, a
child can and often comes to believe that bullying can be an acceptable means
to an end, when in fact, it isn’t. It is
heartbreaking to realize that so many children are being antagonized in hurtful
ways, sometimes even leading to tragic outcomes. So I invite you to reply with your thoughts,
ideas and solutions. And so, the question is this: As a parent or caregiver, what sensitivity
strategies do you implement to teach anti-bullying to your children? |
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CategoriesANTI-BULLYINGEACH CHILD IS UNIQUE! GETTING ACQUAINTED SUMMER HOLIDAYS WRITING FOR KIDS!
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