October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Unfortunately, nearly 1 in 3 students report being bullied during the school year, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. Research suggests that this number will increase unless others step in to take action against bullying. School-based bullying prevention programs may help bullying to be decreased by up to 25 percent.
Michigan Connections Academy’s Director of Counseling Services, Melissa Norman-Dunton, has shared three tips to help prevent bullying:
· Build conflict resolution skills in children. Equip children with skills to face conflict peacefully. Approaching fights with positive attitudes helps everyone maintain better relationships with the people around them. Children who get into a conflict can follow these steps:
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o Stop. Don’t let things get out of control. Take a step back and try to calm down, since anger makes conflicts more difficult to resolve.
o Say what the conflict is about. Make sure you both have a clear understanding of what is causing the disagreement, and clarify what each of you wants or doesn’t want.
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o Think of positive options. What’s a fair solution that meets both of your needs?
o Choose a positive option that each of you can agree on.
· Empower your kids with knowledge. There are a variety of resources online to educate your children about bullying and the damaging consequences that can result. These include:
o For young children, visit an informative and educational website hosted by McGruff, the Crime Dog, which features games, videos, and advice about how to deal with bullying situations.
o Teach teens about the danger of cyberbullying by directing them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s teen website.
o Bookmark the PBS Kids website for ‘tweens to find videos, games, and information about dealing with bullies, rumors and the ups and downs of friendships.
o The National Bullying Prevention Center offers a website just for teens that is packed with information about maintaining Internet safety through real-life stories, videos, games and comics.
· Make things difficult for a cyberbully. Consider implementing some of these cyber-safe techniques:
o Don’t give out personal information. Encourage your child to avoid exchanging email addresses or phone numbers with anyone online without your permission.
o Have your child delete messages from people he or she doesn’t know or that seem angry or mean. Bullying can’t occur if it’s not allowed to start.
o Tell your kids to use their instincts while on the Internet and immediately end any interaction that seems suspicious.
o Monitor your kids’ online interactions. Visit https://www.commonsensemedia.org/cyberbullying for concrete, age-appropriate advice.
Collectively, we can minimize, if not eliminate, incidents of bullying in our schools and neighborhoods. So we encourage you to work with your children, school and community to prevent bullying.
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