Bullying is becoming a concern around the world and with recent developments I thought I'd post some warning signs that parents and teachers can look out for in kids. These signs include for kids being bullied or kids that are bullying others.
Signs a Child Is Being Bullied
Some signs that may point to a bullying problem are:
- Unexplainable injuries
- Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics, or jewellery
- Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness
- Changes in eating habits, like suddenly skipping meals or binge eating. Kids may come home from school hungry because they did not eat lunch.
- Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares
- Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school
- Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations
- Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem
Look for these changes in a childs behaviour, though not all children may exhibit signs that they are being bullied.
Signs a Child is Bullying Others
Kids may be bullying others if they:
- Get into physical or verbal fights
- Have friends who bully others
- Are increasingly aggressive
- Get sent to the principal’s office or to detention frequently
- Have unexplained extra money or new belongings
- Blame others for their problems
- Don’t accept responsibility for their actions
- Are competitive and worry about their reputation or popularity
- Self-destructive behaviours such as running away from home, harming themselves, or talking about suicide
Sometimes, schools are not explicit in explaining to parents that their child is being a bully. In my experience, this is getting better and schools are listening more intently to children and observe what is happening around them.
Knowing your children well is an integral component to recognising the signs of bullying. If you think there are bullying issues occurring, approach the issue with tact and be mindful that your child may not want to name their bully. If you ned to approach a school to get assistance with the problem, do this with the child's best interest at heart and not with rage in your eyes as this can only make the issue worse.
Thanks for reading!
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Thank you for this short and informative article. This is such an important topic especially nowadays where bullying for so many children even goes on beyond the classroom in social media. I only recently heard a report on that on the radio and it broke my heart to just think about what way to many children have to experience every single day.
Lately the index of conflicts generated by the concept of bullying has increased, which should ignite the alerts of all, including parents, children, teachers, the whole community must be informed of all these signals and thus be able to avoid some incident.
It's so sad that even our kids live in a tough world. I often worry that my child will be bullied, or even worse, become a bully!