How parents can pitch in to prevent bullying

Parentsgo togreat lengths to protect their children. Keeping a watchful eye is a great way to protect kids when they’re around the house, but parentsmay need to look for more subtle signs to determine if their children are being mistreated when they leave home.

The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services notes that roughly 20 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 experience bullying nationwide.

Parents might once have written off bullying as part of growing up, but research has long since indicated that bullying can be very harmful to youngsters.

The DHHS notes that research indicates that persistent bullying can lead to or exacerbate feelings of isolation, rejection, exclusion, and despair. Children who are persistently bullied also may experience neworworsening feelings of anxietyand depression.

Parents can play a vital role in preventing bullying. Much of that role involves parents educating themselves about bullying, including what it is and what it’s not andwhat are somewarning signs that a child is involved in bullying.

What is bullying?

The DHHS website Stopbullying. gov defines bullying as unwanted, aggressive behavior among schoolaged children that involves a real or perceived imbalance of power. Bullying behavior is repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time.

The imbalance of power associated with bullying involves the children who bully using some semblance of power they have over the children they’re bullying to harmor control those youngsters.

Their powermay be physical strength, access to embarrassing information or popularity.

What isn’t bullying?

Various types of aggressive behavior have the potential to be harmful, but they do not fall under the umbrella of bullying. For example,

Stopbullying. gov notes that children between the ages of 3 and 5 are learning how to coexist with one another, including howto share and cooperate.

Children in these age groups may be aggressive if they don’t get what they want, but their actions in suchinstancesdonot constitute bullying. More information about potentially harmful, non- bullying behaviors is available at Stopbullying. gov.

What are some signs a child is being bullied?

The DHHS notes that not all children who are being bullied exhibit warning signs. In addition, some signs might be more subtle than others. But some potential indicators that a child is being bullied include:

• Unexplainable injuries

• Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics or jewelry

• Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness

• Changes in eating habits, like suddenly skipping meals or binge eating. For example, children who are being bullied may come home from school hungry because they did not eat lunch.

• Difficulty sleepingor frequent nightmares

• Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school

• Sudden loss of friends or avoidanceof social situations

• Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem

• Self- destructive behaviors such as running away from home, harming themselves or talking about suicide