Schools
Moms Talk: Bullies at School
Have your children been forced to deal with bullies at school? How do you deal with that?
Our Moms Talk isssue this week comes from Linda Arbiter:
One of my client’s shared this story with me, “One morning my son asked for more money than usual for lunch stating that he was always so hungry at lunchtime that he needed to buy more food.When I paused and thought about this, I realized he actually looked thinner than usual. Myinstincts told me that something was wrong. What I discovered wasthat one of the older kids at school was bullying him and forcibly taking my son’s lunch money.”
Playful teasing and friendly joking by peers is normal and not harmful.
But when teasing becomes cruel, mean, and continuous, it crosses the line into bullying and needs to stop. Defined in KidsHealth.org, “Bullying is intentional tormenting in physical, verbal, or psychological ways. It can range from hitting, shoving, name-calling, threats, and from mocking to extorting money
and treasured possessions. Some kids bully by shunning others and spreading rumors about them. Others use email, chat rooms, instant messages, social networking websites, and text messages to tauntothers or hurt their feelings.
I’m curious if any of our reader’s kids have suffered a bullying experience and how you handled it.
Let us know what you think in the comments section of our site.