SAN DIEGO — Many kids and even adults have experienced some form of bullying. With the school year returning, it's a good time to talk to your kids about bullying before it has a chance to happen.
American Society for the Positive Care of Children reports 28% of U.S. students grades six through 12 experienced bullying. That's nearly three out of every ten students.
If your child is being bullied, Kids Health suggests they tell an adult, avoid the bully and use a buddy system, hold back the anger and act brave, walk away and ignore the bully.
Zach Stones is a program manager at the Family Wellness Center of the San Diego Center for Children. He said kids that are labeled "bullies" are usually going through a hard time.
"Identify bullies as kids that are hurting," Stones said. "These are kids that we're talking about, and kids deserve help and not punishment, if at all possible. So talking to your kid about 'what do you think's going on with that bully?'"
Stones said that mindset can help a kid feel more confident and understand why a bully is acting out. If your family is going through a difficult time, how do you make sure it doesn't affect your kid, and possibly lead them to become a bully?
"Making sure we're role modeling the right behaviors that we want them to be role modeling, so how are we addressing similar issues of not feeling confident in our own lives?," Stones said.
Stones said being transparent with your child and talking about how they're feeling about the situation is the best way to prevent them from taking it out on someone else.
"They're able to express their feelings directly about the thing that they're dealing with," Stones said. "Then those emotions are less likely to pour out other places, which might come in the form of bullying."
When talking to your kid about bullying, Stones said it's important to encourage them to talk to a trusted adult, explain how a bully is going through a hard time and regularly check on how your kid is feeling.
"You just sort of lay the foundation of talking about emotions on a daily basis and then when it comes to a harder conversation, like bullying or other things that might come up, then it's already natural for the two of you to discuss how you're feeling," Stones said.
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