Tips on how to respond and support your child if they are being bullied

Dr Bruce Robinson has some tips on bullying and how to respond if it’s happening to your child

This month on The Fathering Channel we are bringing you a special series on bullying and cyber bullying to assist all fathers and parents develop their skills and knowledge to support their child if the situation ever occurs.

Some tips on how to tell if your child tells you they are being bullied:

• Listen to your child and react in a calm and supportive manner. It is important that your child feels confident to talk to you about problems.
• Acknowledge that bullying is wrong, and you understand that he/she is upset by the bullying.
• Talk about options. Ask your child what you could do to help and work out a plan of what he/or she could do to help make the situation better.
• End with encouragement. Remind your child that the bullying is not his or her fault and that you will work together to make the situation better.

Some important tips on how to talk to your children about bullying:

• Stay calm and try not to get upset or angry. This is probably what the person bullying wants you to do.
• Don’t fight back. If you fight back you can make the situation worse, get hurt, or be blamed for starting the trouble.
• Try standing up for yourself in a positive way if you feel you are able to.
• Try to act in a way that ignores the bullying by calmly turning and walking away.
• Walk away from the situation as quickly as possible.
• Tell a trusted adult what has happened straight away.

Check out all of our trending stories this month on bullying and how you can support your child to be better prepared and open to discuss and solve a problem should it occur.

Have you enjoyed this video? For more insight on social issues affecting fatherhood, check out our blog.