Bullying and teasing is no laughing matter
STANDERTON - A complaint of school bullying was received by Cosmos News, reporting incidents including personal insults, fist fights, damaging of schoolbags and clothing and even insulting the victim’s parents’ abilities. According to the mother of the victim the situation has now expanded to such an extent that her child does not want to go to school anymore, suffers from depression and talks about taking his own life. This specific child receives psychological help form a local psychiatrist.
After some investigation, it was revealed that several cases of school bullying were reported. In one case a child was even stabbed with a knife. Unfortunately, teasing is often part of growing up - almost every child experiences it. But it isn’t always as innocuous as it seems. Words can cause pain. Teasing becomes bullying when it is repetitive or when there is a conscious intent to hurt another child. It can be verbal bullying (making threats, name-calling), psychological bullying (excluding children, spreading rumours), or physical bullying (hitting, pushing, taking a child’s possessions).
Victims of bullying are often shy and tend to be physically weaker than their peers. They may also have low self-esteem and poor social skills, which makes it hard for them to stand up for themselves. Bullies consider these children safe targets because they usually don’t retaliate.
If your child is the victim of bullying, he may suffer physically and emotionally and his schoolwork will likely show it. Grades drop because instead of listening to the teacher, kids are wondering what they did wrong and whether anyone will sit with them at lunch. If bullying persists, they may be afraid to go to school.
Bullies are affected too, even into adulthood; they may have dif culty forming positive relationships. They are more prone to use tobacco and alcohol and to be abusive spouses. If you’re concerned that your child is a victim of teasing or bullying, look for these signs of stress: increased passivity or withdrawal, frequent crying, recurrent complaints of physical symptoms such as stomach-aches or headaches with no apparent cause, unexplained bruises, a sudden drop in grades or other learning problems, not wanting to go to school, signi cant changes in social life -suddenly no one is calling or extending invitations and a sudden change in the way your child talks - calling him/herself a loser, or a former friend a “jerk”.
You can help your child by giving him/her space to talk. If they recount incidences of teasing or bullying, be empathetic. Once you’ve opened the door, help your child begin to problem-solve
Adults need to intervene to help children resolve bullying issues, but calling another parent directly can be tricky unless he or she is a close friend. It is easy to nd yourself in a “he said/she said” argument.
If you do nd yourself talking directly to the other parent, try to do it in person rather than over the phone. Don’t begin with an angry recounting of the other child’s offenses. Set the stage for a collaborative approach.
If you are concerned about your child, share with the teacher what your child has told you, describe any teasing or bullying you may have witnessed. If the teacher says your child is being teased, nd out whether there are any things he may be doing in class to attract teasing. Ask how he responds to the teasing, and discuss helping him develop a more effective response. After the initial conversation, be sure to make a follow-up appointment to discuss how things are going. If the problem persists, or the teacher ignores your concerns, and your child starts to withdraw or does not want to go to school, consider the possibility of “therapeutic intervention.
