From the writer and producer of Bully and a psychotherapist/school social worker, comes an incredible resource guide to Bullying Prevention and Intervention. A guide that provides you with the knowledge to recognize different types of bullying, the signs that your child might be the victim or the aggressor and what you can do to help empower your children.
The Essential Guide to Bullying Prevention and Intervention explores all angles of this awful epidemic as well as provides parents with information on the antibullying legislation being enacted around the country. It opens discussion on how you can use it to protect your family as well as your community and how you can stand up and why it is important to.
I was a victim of bullying in school and also found myself the parent of a bullied child, so I have a very personal reason for sharing this book with you. I watched the deterioration of my son’s emotional, educational and physical self due to years of bullying regardless of the fact that we switched schools often. In the early 2000s, there wasn’t much information about this subject, less so in the years when I was a teenager and now that this information is available for parents I cannot help but urge you to read, read, read… the importance of being educated cannot be understated.
When my oldest son was in 1st grade he found himself attacked by other kids in his class on the playground and if it wasn’t for the kindergartners standing up for him and getting help, I don’t know what would have happened to him. I had no idea that anything was going on in the school because he had done the proper thing about telling the teacher he was being picked on, but I found the teacher hadn’t done anything or reported it to me because my son was deemed a ‘tattle teller’ and so she figured he was just rattling off. After this incident I stormed into the office of the school and lost it on the principal, who I later found knew about the issues but didn’t do anything because ‘boys are boys’ and my son had a tendency to always tell on them. I left feeling helpless, these people weren’t going to do anything and eventually I moved my son to another school. What I didn’t know then, that I know now that this is becoming such a widespread epidemic, was that there were things I could do. There were ways I could get help for my son and for myself, people I could go to beyond his teachers and so forth. That is why I feel it’s important to be educated, not only because I was unaware of the signs of my son being a victim, but because no parent should feel helpless in these situations and no educator should EVER make you feel like it is your child’s fault.
This book is not only a resource for victims, but parents to be able to tell the signs of whether their child is becoming a bully. It also helps with delicate situations such such divorce, job loss, illnesses in the family, substance abuse and death of a parent. As bullying is taking on a new form through the internet, it assists in being Cyberwise and of course the most important thing – how to access and report, the federal and state laws and school reporting requirements.
There is a section on this book specific for children with special needs. My son is four and has multiple developmental delays and how we deal with bullying from other kids also comes with special care. Just because a child has a disability makes them no less a target and sometimes I find that it just makes them an easier one for bullies. Here are some ways that Educators, Parents and Peers can help children on the Autistic Spectrum:
Educators can make schools safe for students on the autism spectrum by:
- Conducting school-wide autism awareness training, including peers, teachers, bus drivers, athletic coaches and lunch and recess monitors.
- Creating peer support networks for youth with autism, and implement reporting systems that kids with autism can use.
- Ensuring IEP (individualized education program) team leaders are aware of the risks associated with autism and bullying, and that plans include ways to prevent bullying.
- Promoting ongoing parent, teacher and specialist communication.
Parents can help prevent children with autism from being bullied by:
- Getting educated and learn from the resources available to you, such as pediatricians or early intervention specialists.
- Reaching out to the school and ask how you can partner with the educators.
- Developing tools to communicate with your child about bullying.
- Practicing confidence-building, reading social cues and responding to bullying with your kids.
- Partnering with your child’s educators to develop an IEP that includes an anti-bullying strategy.
- Finding resources to be prepared, such as the National Center for Learning Disabilities? special needs anti-bullying toolkit.
Kids can stand up for peers with autism by:
- Developing friendships with kids with autism, celebrating their capacity for imaginative thinking.
- Considering ways you can educate your peers to understand and celebrate those with autism.
- Creating activities that promote inclusion within your school community.
- Standing up for peers in a safe way. For example, inviting a child to sit with them at lunch, telling an aggressive child to stop behaving badly, not joining in bullying but help the victim walk away or tell an adult.
I know bullying is something that I will be dealing with for many, many years. My son just had two kids throwing pennies at him while he was just reading a Manga book at Barnes and Noble, my youngest (who is four) had some kid push him down at the Library because he was excited and clapping for him. However, the difference from all those years ago and now is that I am more educated about what I can do as a parent, where I can go for help and how to approach and deal with bullies correctly. I know I am on the right path because my oldest son has more confidence having me by his side, he’s read these materials with me and knows what to do and where to go for help. This guide eliminates that feeling of being alone and helpless as a parent, it gives you the absolute ability to say – I know what you are going through and I can help.
You can purchase The Essential Guide to Bullying Prevention and Intervention for $11.29 on Amazon.
Although it is not a website for the book exactly, there are a great deal of resources available on The Bully Project, which is a project / film produced by one of the authors of the book (Cynthia Lowen).
