How to help a child victim of bullying: 7 tips against bullying

Bullying, also known as bullying, is a too common circumstance within the educational centers of primary or secondary education. In general, it tends to appear with a higher incidence in the secondary stage, when young people are going through adolescent age.

In this article let's see how to help a child victim of bullying, we will learn to identify when a young person may be experiencing bullying, and we will know the best ways to deal with this situation by assisting them.

• Related article: "The 5 types of bullying or bullying"

How to identify bullying?

To know how to help a child who is bullied, the first step is to identify the bullying. As usual young people tend to keep the situation to themselves and do not tell adults about it.

This refusal to speak about it responds to the inappropriate feelings that the minor experiences when he is a victim of bullying; He usually feels minimized emotionally and emotionally, which leads him to think that adults will perceive him in the same way.

They are afraid to talk about it because

they don't want their caregivers to be disappointed in them, considering that they are having an attitude of "weakness" in the situation of being victims of bullying. As caregivers of a child or adolescent, we must be attentive to their behavior.

There are several indicators that can serve as warning signs about the possibility that the young man could be being abused at school. The flattened emotional tone is a constant; But in addition to this, there are some specific signs that can help us to recognize cases of bullying. Without the following.

• Avoidant children when faced with eye contact.
• With difficulty sleeping at night.
• They resist going to school.
• They are socially isolated.
• They return from school with bruises or bumps.
• They return from school hungry despite bringing food.
• They constantly ask for more money.

These indicators should be based on facts that arise with some regularity, in addition to being accompanied by a decrease in the affectivity of the young person. If not, they could be due to a specific situation other than bullying.

How to help children who are victims of bullying?

In the next few lines we will see a series of practical tips to help children and adolescents cope with bullying. However, we must bear in mind that bullying is not an individual psychological problem, rather, it is a psychosocial problem, which affects several people at the same time and is linked to a context determined.

1. Let the young man know that he should not be ashamed

The first thing we must do is give you the confidence to express your real situation without fear, make him see that he is not the only person to whom this situation has happened and that he should not feel bad about it. It should be emphasized that the one who is making the mistake is the abuser, and not him.

2. Fight the feeling of guilt

Those young victims of abuse at school develop an intense sense of irrational guilt, based on the idea that they are to blame for being abused by not being able to defend themselves. As caregivers, we need to talk to them and help them change this inappropriate thinking.

We must make them understand that it is not their fault that other people have wrong attitudes, and that the solution is not to resort to violence, but to talk to the institution's authorities about what is happening. The best thing is to go to the school in the company of the young man and make the complaint.

3. Congratulate the young person for expressing themselves

Considering how difficult it can be for the young person to express his negative experience, it is a good idea to congratulate him for doing so. It is important to reaffirm your self-esteem, letting you know how brave you have been for daring to tell what is happening.

4. Avoid downplaying it

In some cases the parents or caregivers do not give the real importance to the matter and they take this situation as something natural in the lives of young people, when the truth is that if the measures are not taken in time the results could be very harmful for the child. Many young people, feeling misunderstood, have even attacked their own physical integrity.

The ideal is to act as soon as we suspect that something bad may be happening at school.

5. Maintain frequent communication with teachers

One way to prevent and deal with bullying when it is already happening is maintain good communication relationships with the youth teachersSo please let us know if you see unusual behavior in the youth, and if it is bullying, act together to stop it.

In fact, it must be assumed that acting against bullying is not an activity directed exclusively towards the individual who is bullying. suffering: it is necessary to do everything possible to introduce changes also in their social context, and for this it is necessary to coordinate with the community educational.

6. Educate in emotional intelligence

Instill in the child the ability to recognize their own emotions It is essential so that in a stressful situation you do not allow anger or frustration to make you do things that are counterproductive to your situation.

What we are looking for with this is that the young person is able to control his emotions and not act at the first impulse. To achieve this, we must talk with him about the advantages of solving difficulties through regular channels and not resorting to violent actions.

• You may be interested: "What is emotional intelligence?"

7. Teach him to prioritize the quality of relationships

It is helpful to show the child that it is sometimes beneficial to get away from certain people who do not bring anything positive, even though they are apparently popular or charismatic in the eyes of others, and teach you that you should take into consideration how you feel when you are with someone in particular to assess whether that relationship is worth the sorrow.

This is how it is promoted that you do not change your interests or your way of being by being part of a group in which he is a victim of bullying. Finding support networks beyond those social circles in which you suffer attacks is essential to protect self-esteem and not adopt a role of chronic submission.

Bibliographic references:

• Barri, F. (2006). S.O.S. Bullying: Prevent Bullying and Improve Coexistence. Praxis, S.A.
• De Acevedo, A. (2010). Someone is bothering me: bullying. Editions B.
• Olivares, J. And Méndez, F. X. (2008). Behavior Modification Techniques. Madrid: New Library.
• Rueda, J. M. (1992). Psychosocial intervention. The community psychologist. Psychosocial intervention, 1, 27-41.