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Expert Q&A
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| By Kate Cohen-Posey Therapist | ||
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Help! My son has been singled out by the class bully and is being picked on every day. How can I help discourage this? Do I talk to the teacher or to the bully's parents? I want to make sure my child isn't getting hurt, physically or emotionally.
Check with your child's teacher to make sure he isn't being hurt physically and that the school will take appropriate action if he is. If the bullying is at the verbal (name calling) level help him think of ways to respond, like, "You're trying so hard to upset me. I hope someone is paying you because that's a lot of work for nothing." If your son can't do anything else, he can just say "Thanks" rather than being quiet or striking back. Usually being quiet makes kids feel worse and striking back continues the vicious cycle.
The book How to Handle Bullies Teasers and Other Meanies has numerous responses for many kinds of putdowns. Children feel very empowered when they learn how to neutralize (verbal) attacks.
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