James Donaldson on Mental Health - How to Arm Your Child Against Bullying

Here are some tips on how to talk to kids about bullying: 1.

Talk to your child about what bullying is, the signs of bullying , and whether or not it’s going on.

Make sure she knows that if something happens, in school or online, she should tell you, and you will support her and together figure out how to work it out.

If something is happening online, it’s especially important that she NOT respond before telling you about it.

With bullying, it’s critical to not engage, to not feed it by being exactly who the perpetrator is looking for — someone she can get a rise out of.

And she should NOT erase the hurtful post before talking to you.

It should be saved somewhere, because sometimes you need to collect evidence of what’s been going on.

Make it clear that bullying says less about the victims personally than it does about the bully.

This kid has a problem and others have to learn how to deflect and contain this problem, and not feed what’s going on.

Explain that the worst way to respond is a sort of mob mentality — other children who are afraid of being targets will join with the bully and abandon the victim.