I am hoping I am able to explain this well enough so I don’t offend anyone who has a child who has been bullied. Let me say this first. Bullying is a real problem and bullying happens.
So what is bullying? According to www.stopbullying.gov, “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.”
The key words in the definition, in my opinion, are AGGRESSIVE, POWER, and REPEATED. When a child is repeatedly taunted by another child who possesses power over him/her (size, status, or age) this is a case of bullying. Please let your children know what bullying looks like AND encourage them to tell an adult should they witness or experience it.
Equally as important is teaching children WHAT ISN’T BULLYING AT ALL. Children need to understand that they aren’t going to like everyone and everyone isn’t going to like them. Kids are going to say mean things. Kids are going to choose friends. Kids are going to speak without filters and say “I don’t like your haircut”. If your child comes home and calls an incident bullying, when it isn’t really at all, correct them!
Bullying is not synonymous with a kid being mean. Teach your child to know the difference so they can report bullying accurately and toughen up to this world where we aren’t always liked.