3 Tips towards Discovering if your Teen is a Bully
Does your child signs of harming or tease others?
Do they get jealous or angry fast?
Do you suspect that your child is a bully?
Then this post is for you!
Our job as parents, teachers, and caregivers is to help protect our children the best way we can. One of the ways we protect is preventing our children from harming themselves and others physically and emotionally by bullying! Research shows that kids that bully have a high chance of getting involved with negative behavior, such as drugs and criminal activity later in life as well as have poor interpersonal skills.
This is why it is vital to help and encourage our children to NOT bully.
On a previous post, I shared my thoughts on,
“Why do Children Bully”, and I truly enjoy the feedback I received from everyone on the subject! Today on this post, I want to dive deep on what to look for if you have concerns as a
parent, teacher or caregiver that your kid is a bully. I want to provide
three tips you can evaluate and apply right now to determine if they are bullying and behaviors you should look out for. So here we go…Tip One:
Now not all children will show this negative behavior in front of an adult or even admit to it, but habitually trying to harm others is a big red flag, that your child is a bully. If you have received word from school, or other reliable sources that your child has ganged up with another child to hurt someone or asked their friends to join in, this also may be a sign your child is a bully.
Tip Two:
Social media is the King of the social world these days. We have talked about in previous post
“What is Cyberbullying”, and how it can play a huge factor in our children’s lives. If you have seen or heard about your child spreading rumors about another child either through social media, notes, email, then it is a
high chance they may be a bully.Emotionally hurting other children is another common way that children bully. If your child is a bully, they will use these methods to humiliate other children in front of others.
Tip Three:
Last tip towards discovering if your child is a bully is noticing unhealthy teasing. This means any situation were there is a noticed verbal power imbalance. It is important that everyone understands this behavior is not acceptable. I have learned on my journey, that we really never know what other’s are going through behind closed doors. Teasing someone, could be the last incident, that could cause someone to commit suicide! It has happened multiple times in our country!
Let your children know that teasing will not help them to make healthy friends long-term. Our children needs clarity and understanding about how their decisions can change their life forever. Many times a bully does not understand the consequences of their actions, and needs help in understanding what can happen.
You can Make a Difference Now
As I look back on my journey as a kid, it is common for a child to bully others because their friends do it, and even though they are not the one who initiates the bullying, they can suffer just the same. I genuinely believe it is important to notice. If you see this type of behavior in either your child or their friends, make sure you make it a huge priority that they understand bullying is not acceptable.
I genuinely believe that you are destined to make an impact within yourself personally, as well as the lives of your teens/young adults. Keep in mind to enjoy the process along the way of teaching our youth how to live fullfilling lives. I hope you found benefit from the 3 tips towards discovering if your teen is a bully. If I can help any further, please fill free to reach out to me!!
Also, we discuss more in detail about bullying and becoming resilient, as I share my story of overcoming bullying in my new book, Live, Learn and Lead Powerfully: A Teen Leadership Guide. I am proud to say it has successfully made Amazon’s #1 New Release List. God is Good!! Make sure
you grab a copy!
Hopefully, you found this post informational, and it motivates you eliminate bullying in your environment and to grow more valuable to others. Also, I would love to speak at your next event, check out the programs I have to offer!
Lastly, always remember tomorrow is yours to create, and don’t limit yourself.
