I wrote this article, because America needs a wake up call about BULLYING!

Bullying has become an alarming situation in communities and schools across the world. In the recent years there have been several cases of fighting, suicides, shootings in neighborhoods and schools as well as several murder suicides. So why has this problem that consist of teasing, name calling, taking of ones property and or threats and intimidation become so widespread? What can we do as a community, individual, parent, older sibling, role model or friend?

I feel that we must first and foremost teach children to love, respect and accept themselves as unique individuals; thus boosting their self-esteem. Children with genuinely high self-esteem may be able to create a higher tolerance of bullying versus those who have low self-esteem.

Next we much teach our children that everyone is made in a special way. If the Creator wanted all of us to have long hair, short hair, petite frames, husky built, blue eyes, be short, tall, great in all subjects, ect; then I’m sure we would all be identical. In reality we are made different for many reasons; to distinguish between each other and to learn to accept different forms of beauty. We are all truly beautiful in our own way.

Then we must instill in our children that teasing, name calling, or any sort of behavior under the umbrella of bullying is only not acceptable, but not nice. Teach children to imagine being that person. Do we really have a choice as embryos to decide who or what we will be or look like? We must encourage them to accept people from all walks of life, socioeconomic status, color, religion, even sexuality. As cruel as it may sound, we also need to point out their faults allowing them to be placed directly into the shoes of the other person; it won’t be a good feeling for them. However, this has worked for me will bullies in the past (only intended to teach them a lesson, not to harm them in any way).

Finally we must not assume that all children have a thick skin. We all have our bad days where we have reached our limit with the BS, children have a limit too. We must encourage them to address the problem and not run from it. Here are just a few examples of how to deal with bullies either at home or school.

a.Show the bully kindness for a few days, this may help change them
b.Ask the teacher or parent to speak with the bully or the bully’s parents
c.Ignore the bully, usually when a bully doesn’t have an audience, they stop
d.Have a sit down with the bully and an adult
e.Write a letter to the principal
f.Talk to the local Police
g.Email or call the region
h.Have an older sibling offer to mentor the bully; sometimes bullying is a cry for help

There are several ways to avoid the escalation of bullying to fighting, suicide, shooting, any violence. These are only a few, but the most important thing is to keep the situation from getting worse. Try real hard to help your children understand that no one likes to be bullied, so they shouldn’t bully anyone either.