Dealing with Bullying in School Sports

dealing-with-bullying-in-school-sports

Enrolling your child in a school sport is a great way for your child to develop both motor skills and social skills. Your child will love building the teamwork mentality while developing skills for their favorite sport. Unfortunately, bullying can happen during school sports. As a parent, you can take certain steps to help deal with your child being bullied.

Dealing with Bullying in School Sports

What is Bullying?

Before you can deal with bullying in school sports, you need to know what bullying actually is. Bullying is repeated physical and verbal behavior that causes harm to your child. Anyone can be a bully, including teammates, as well as coaches. If your child feels like they’re being bullied, talk about the reasons behind this. Do a little research and see if what your child is experience fits the definition of bullying. If it does, then you’re ready to solve the problem.

Talk to the Coach

If your child is being bullied during school sports, your first step is to talk to the coach. Your child’s coach is on the front lines, so to speak, so they should be able to directly deal with any bullying behavior if they know what to look for. Let your child’s coach know what’s going on and who is involved so that they have the information they need.

Talk to the School

If talking to the coach doesn’t help the issue, you can talk to the school. Because the sport is offered by the school system, they are supposed to follow the same anti-bullying guidelines that your district has in place. If you feel like the coach isn’t following these policies, then talk to the principal at your child’s school or go directly to the district’s administration office.

Volunteer

Another great way to deal with bullying in school sports is to volunteer. There are a lot of kids involved in a sport, making it harder for coaches to catch negative behavior and deal with it. You can lend a helping hand on your child’s team, allowing more adults to be on the lookout for bullying.

What are some ways you deal with bullying in school sports?

17 thoughts on “Dealing with Bullying in School Sports”

  1. This is so important especially since my oldest likes to participate in sports but isn’t aggressive or particularly athletic!

  2. Good post – recently there was a serious bullying problem from one of the schools my grandson played basketball against. The coach promoted bullying with his players. I was so proud my daughter. She watched then bullying – she got up and removed Caleb from the game. After she did numerous other parents also removed their sons and they forfeited the game. The other team was furious! Caleb’s coach stated to everyone at the game – that “Bullying is not allowed at this school” – “This game is forfeited – winning is not as important as stopping bullying” PRICELESS MOMENT!

  3. {Annie} Stowed Stuff

    I think sadly this has quickly become such a huge issue everywhere! I can see how bullying would be even more found in a competitive space such a sports.

  4. I dread this. We actually have kindergarten registration today, so we have a lot ahead of us. I just hope that what I’ve been teaching my son about standing up to bullies is getting through! I remember what it’s like, and the damage it can do.

  5. There are actually Teachers who know and do nothing about it. Principals included . Its sad how many great kids have to get picked on by other Kids

  6. It’s sad that kids have to deal with bullying. If a kid has fun playing sports, they shouldn’t be made fun of constantly for doing so.

Leave a Reply to maria @ close to home Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *