Know your bully
But does a child really know what to do to make this problem go away? The first step, of course, is teaching children how to recognize bullying. Classroom guidance designed to raise awareness about the types of bullying and strategies to reduce it will help students identify and react to inappropriate behavior. The first thing that needs to be learned is how to identify a bully - a bully is someone who has the intent to harm repeatedly and will always target victims weaker than themselves.Now that we know the pattern, we have to raise awareness about the types of bullying that takes place on school grounds. Children might primarily associate it with physical abuse, but it is hardly the only form we should be wary of. More subtle forms, like verbal, social, and cyberbullying, can do as much harm to a young individual. Name-calling, for instance, may appear harmless initially, but it can quickly escalate to harsh insults, intimidation, and homophobic or racist remarks, thus turning into severe verbal abuse. Social or covert bullying may be the hardest to recognize since its purpose is to harm someone’s social reputation and often cause humiliation.
In this modern day and age, special attention must be paid to cyberbullying. The combination of hardware such as mobile phones or computers and software, like all interactive online content, makes an ideal environment for cyberbullying. They will sometimes attack in public or private, spreading nasty rumors or even stealing someone’s identity. Once you recognize any type of this kind of behavior, it is imperative to seek advice on what to do next.
Your counselor is here to help.
Children are often reluctant to seek help, thinking it will make them appear weak and even more of an outcast. They are afraid it will trigger an avalanche of even worse maltreatment, so they suffer in silence, thinking that if they close their eyes, their problems will eventually go away. Unfortunately, this is not how you deal with bullying. On the other hand, seeing your school counselor is. The vicious cycle is easily broken by seeking help from a trained professional. Being a school counselor dealing with these issues takes a lot of skill. It requires individuals with the correct certification in the field which enables them to look after the overall well-being of school children, to listen, interact and build trust. They can assess individuals and find the most appropriate way of dealing with all situations, especially critical ones.Depending on the type of situation, the measures counselors will take might vary. Although they will never be physically involved in the conflict in question, other effective interventions exist. Getting in touch with the parents will help put things into perspective. From then on, the counselor can request their assistance and reach the offender. More often than not, this combined effort solves the bullying problem for good. Although there are times when severe verbal and physical bullying cannot be solved without the intervention of the authorities, more subtle forms of this kind of abuse are still the most significant challenges. Whatever the situation, school counselors are the ones most capable of finding a solution by using and keeping all the lines of communication open.
There is no reason to put up with bullying – whether you are a victim, bystander, or bully. Keep in mind that bullies suffer as well. The violence they express comes from severe sadness so deeply rooted they are often unaware of it themselves. Everyone must work together to thrive in a healthy, bully-free environment and reach their full potential. Facing up to your problems will lead to a brighter and happier future.