Watching your child suffer is never easy to witness. You know from your past school experiences that kids can be malicious and unfortunately times have not changed. You may understand that kids will be kids, but you cannot discern the magnitude of torment that bullying can cause a teen until it happens to your family.
Help your teen with their emotions.
Instead of minimizing what they are going through, be an advocate for your teenager. They could use your help to process what is happening to them and figure out what actions they should take to get the situation under control. If you overreact, you may overstep boundaries and make them not trust you with the situation at hand.
Help your teen to see through negative friendships.
Teens usually get their self-esteem through what their friends think. Start as early as possible to weed out the negative influence that some kids can have on yours. If you see red flags in the people that they are hanging out with most likely this will not change anytime soon. Choosing their friends for them will probably not go over very well although you do have a say with who your teen spends their time with.
Help your teen to see their worth.
There is really nothing that you can do to prepare for bullying except to keep their self-esteem accelerated. Keep criticisms to a minimum and compliment the things that your teen does do well. They may roll their eyes at your words, but they will hear what you have to say. Plant the seeds of self-worth so that they can eventually believe it on their own.
Help your teen with prevention.
You do not necessarily need a full PowerPoint presentation to teach your teen about the ins and outs of bullying. All you need to know as a parent is the knowledge on what bullying and cyberbullying are and a way to explain to them how hurt people hurt people. By teaching your teen on how to identify when they are being bullied and how to stand up for themselves in a safe way when it happens, you can help to stop the harassment in its tracks.
A reasonable response to an unfathomable situation is one of the best things you can teach your teen when it comes to bullying. Your pensive strategies can be the very thing that gets them through this difficult season in their life.
Stonewater Adolescent Recovery Center has a program that can help the whole family to begin to heal. We offer essential recovery support skills to show the teen and their family how to implement a strong network that can reinforce healthy living.
Call us today to start living in recovery: 662-598-4214
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