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From early days, establish a time each day when your child can talk to you uninterrupted. A child who is worried may find this time helpful. You can directly ask your child if there is bullying at school.
- Remember how role-playing, or acting out a situation, can help a child. If you have a child who is shy, for instance, practice introducing yourself–in a light-hearted way. Little ones might like to, for instance, be a baby bear introducing himself to Goldilocks. Being able to act like you’re confident even if you aren’t feeling it is a life-long skill.
- Talk about friendship. What makes a good friend? How can you tell if someone is friendly? How do you keep a friend? What if friends want you to go along with something that is hurtful.
- Resist the temptation to bully within the family. Catch children bullying each other and establish this is absolutely not permitted.
- Young children need supervision in their play so that they can be taught the ways of friendship–sharing, not assault, using their words instead of their fists. Older children need to learn how to navigate friendships as they change–there are maturation stages when bullying is especially prevalent, and friendship groups can turn on one member.
- Help your children learn to relax–you may need to learn, too! Have a cup of tea and some soft music when they get home, or take a walk after dinner, anything to reinforce the change from school to the comfort of home.
- Help a child to find and develop an interest or two, whether a sport, or ancient Egyptian wall paintings. A child who cares passionately about something will find others who share the interest.
- Make sure your child is “street-proof” and thoroughly grounded in all the techniques for personal safety. Encourage the school to include this, either in a program or with pamphlets.
- Encourage play dates.
- Bullies pick on children who are “different”–but that may simply mean good at maths, or independent minded, or with red-hair. We need differences in the world. A child who values himself will shrug off bullies’ attempts to bait him by his “differences.” At the same time, especially as adolescence arrives, it can be worth it to buy the must-have trainers or the cool glasses so the child won’t attract the sort of negative attention that is about inconsequential things.
