Tips For Getting Your Kids To Open Up About Bullying

Parents need these tips for getting your kids to open up about bullying. Not only are more and more children coming forward with examples of being bullied, more parents are at a loss as how to reach out to their children.

Parents need these tips for getting your kids to open up about bullying. Not only are more and more children coming forward with examples of being bullied, more parents are at a loss as how to reach out to their children. Fear, frustration and anger can all contribute to a child feeling unable to speak to their parent about a bullying incident. If you feel your kids may have been bullied, these tips will help you to reach out and help them get through their upset post bullying.

Related: ALL the Facts About Bullying You Need to Know to Protect Your Kids

Tips For Getting Your Kids To Open Up About Bullying

Keep an open door policy.  Don’t make talking to you off limits.  Always make sure your kids know that you are open to talk any time.  Make sure when they seek you out for even little things, you give them your full attention.  If you continually put them off or listen while distracted by work or other items you make them feel you aren’t valuable.

Don’t judge them for their actions.  There is a big difference between being judging and angry, and disciplining as needed.  Make sure your children understand that while you don’t approve of some actions, you will never stop loving them.  Explain that no matter what they have done, or has happened to them they can come to you.  They need to know that while you might be upset, you will love them no matter what.

Invest time in them so they feel valued.  Make sure you are building your relationship with your children.  Spend time with them, get to know them and make them feel valuable.  Focus on just them so they see you care about them, their needs and what is happening in their lives.

Related: Tips For Dealing With Bullying As A Family

Start the conversation about bullying.  Don’t wait for them to approach you with concerns.  Start the conversation by asking them about bullying in their school.  Talk to them about if they have seen it happening, experienced it or what you think should be done when bullying happens.

You can easily reach out to your children with these tips for getting your kids to open up about bullying.  As their parent you want them to be safe, secure and able to communicate with you easily.  You don’t want to find out down the road that they have been bullied but felt they couldn’t reach out to you for help.  Keep your lines of communication open with your children so they are always secure and able to talk to you about anything.

Do you have any other tips for getting your kids to open up about bullying? Share in the comments!

15 thoughts on “Tips For Getting Your Kids To Open Up About Bullying”

  1. Great conversation and great suggestions! Life is more complicated than it has ever been, because of social media and cyber bullying; among many other factors.

    Previous generations had a break from peer pressure outside of school so with Facebook and other social networks fully integrated into our culture bullying continues before and after school and often is permanently recorded.

    This is overwhelming for an adult let alone a child or teenager. The school systems want to integrate more rigorous testing and curriculums to compete with China and other countries yet, there has not been any effort/funding to implement an anti-bullying class and/or a self-awareness course which should be as or more important than Math or Science.

    And in my opinion if this is not implemented the bullying and suicide rate will continue to increase along with school shootings.

    My oldest son has almost completed Kindergarten and already we have had two incidents of two separate kids telling him “You’re Dead.” Fortunately, my son is very comfortable telling me what’s going on however, addressing this issue with the parents and the school is challenging; and often leads to nothing positive being done.

    One of the parents ultimately proclaimed that “his son said he did not say it and I believe him.” She also indicated that she has taught her son that “she cannot be their to protect him all of the time, so if someone hits you punch him in the face and protect yourself.”

    I disagreed with that method saying 5 and 6 year olds, and I would go to say up to teenagers need their parents to intervene in these situations where both children and parents come together to have a calm discussion and let the kids speak about what happened, their feelings, etc.

    It’s a perfect opportunity to teach both children right and wrong, taking responsibility for their actions, apologizing, and agreeing that hitting and saying mean things to others is not nice and will not be tolerated.

    If they learn to tell their teacher and parents vs. hitting back/saying mean things back when they are 5 then when they are 15 they will avoid unnecessary drama and have healthier social interactions. Then as an adult, they will avoid big problems that could land them in prison or being seriously injured.

    Lastly, with a majority of parents working full-time with very little time to bond with children and remain well connected as they grow how likely is it that your kids will keep an open door throughout their childhood when they spend more time within a social hierarchy that the parents are not a part of?

  2. We have regular talks around our home and the subject of bullying. I am so proud that my eldest daughter stood up for a friend who was being bullied and they took the problem to the teacher who then took it to the principal and my daughter had to go give her statement on what the one child was saying/doing to the other. It was a proud moment and a great opener to again talk about bullying with my kids, explain to them how hurtful it can be to do that to someone and that they always need to stand up for their friends and fellow peers against bullies and always speak up to the adults around the situation.

  3. These are great tips and so important these days. I’ve seen several of my friends post on Facebook lately about their kids getting bullied. It’s heartbreaking. One reason I’m glad that we’re homeschooling our kids and they don’t have to deal with it as much – but then even homeschooled friends of our are getting bullied by their neighbour next door so it can happen anywhere. Always good to be aware of and talk about. :) Thanks for sharing.

  4. These are some wonderful tips. It’s so unfortunate that there’s so much bullying happening with kids, but awareness is key, and knowing how to deal with it when it happens.

  5. Always listen to them and always believe them! Some parents just sort of think their child is exaggerating or something and that conveys the idea that nobody believes me anyways so why would I tell someone about what is happening. That compounds the issue. Good post!!

  6. Great tips. It’s important to check in with your kids all the time to see how things and friendships are going at school. If we all work together we can end bullying.

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