As the Northern Hemisphere starts back to school and we begin our final term before the summer holidays; I thought it would be good to remind us all about the issue of bully and more importantly how to prevent it. All schools will have an anti-bullying policy but it is also good to train our children [whatever age] to prevent themselves from becoming a victim.
Here are 10 things that a bully looks for, they give him/her a sense of achievement whenever they get this kind of response. The key, therefore, is to learn to avoid showing that their bullying has these effects.
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Eyes - red, teary, weepy, narrowed, looking down or away.
- Face – white, red, tense muscles.
- Lips – tight or mouth open.
- Head – down.
- Shoulders - slumped, bent over, pulled back.
- Voice - very quiet, angry, upset, muffled, a grunt.
- Body Movements - frozen, stuck, paralysed, rigid, fidgeting, walking away.
- Verbal Retaliation - blabbering, criticizing back, blaming.
- Feelings - fear, anger, hurt, hate, demonstrated embarrassment, teariness, frustration.
- Demeanour - doing nothing or being powerless.
Of course many of the reactions are just intuitive and come ‘naturally’, which is why we need to train our children to be counter-intuitive. If the bully doesn’t think they are ‘winning’; ‘on target’; ‘getting to you’ then they will very likely stop.
Let’s help those we love live free from bullying.
[This post was inspired by a Blog Competition by SuperFundraiser Blog.]
