How to Handle the Bully at School
Posted: October 15, 2019
A Parent’s Guide by Christopher Rappold
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the child who is causing hurt to your child is probably hurting too. Where do bullies come from? Bullies often come from broken homes and/or homes that lack solid parental supervision and support. They are children that are crying out for something to be cured within them and are acting out the hurt in unpopular ways. Many times they lack the basic social skills for creating friendships in their life; therefore, they live with the need to "get attention" the wrong way, because in their mind negative attention is better than no attention at all. While all children will go through small versions of these feelings, children who truly come from the background described are destined to live there forever, unless something changes for them.
"Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the child who is causing hurt to your child is probably hurting too."
The truth is that bullies aren’t people to fear but rather people to feel bad for. As parents, it’s important to think of this first before you shout out marching orders to your child or make demands that the bully is never to be within 25 feet of your child at school. When a child makes a cry for help, it’s the responsibility of the adults around to support the child the best way they can. Also, keep in mind that by removing the bully from your child you have not helped your child learn the skills and the mindset to successfully deal with the next bully that comes along.
"When are first response to bullying behavior is to recognize that it is a sign of a person being in either physical or emotional distress our chances of creating peace dramatically go up."
Christopher Rappold
