7 Ways To Prevent and Stop Bullying In All Its Forms

October is the National Bullying Prevention Month. The topic of bullying has become some sort of a trending one that has everyone talking. Bullying, however, is not a new issue.

Unfortunately, bullying is a sickness that has existed since the world began and that has increasingly grown and widely spread as the world changes and new technology is available.

While I am happy about the newfound awareness and enthusiasm to prevent and stop bullying, I am concerned that we may be simply medicating the symptoms.

There are 3 main types of bullying activity:

1. Physical: the most commonly known form; includes hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, and taking personal belongings.
2. Verbal: includes taunting, malicious teasing, name-calling, and making threats.
3. Psychological: involves spreading rumors and hurtful, threatening messages or images, manipulating social relationships, and engaging in social exclusion, extortion, or intimidation.

Kids, teens, and adults today use mobile technology and the Internet to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. This involves the verbal and psychological type of bullying known as Cyberbullying.

My motto is “the Virtual World is just like the Real World…MAGNIFIED.”

School ends at about 3 p.m., but the Internet and Mobile worlds are accessible 24/7 all year round, providing no escape for the victims. The use of technology also gives the bully channels massive endless reach.

The statistics are alarming and the effects are devastating. Bullying, in all its forms, is a harmful practice to all involved: the bully, the victim, and the witnesses or bystanders.

What we do at home to “train a child in the way s/he should go” will determine the role they will play in social settings they encounter. As parents, we have the privilege and responsibility to guide our children, and that requires time.

Research shows that parents in the U.S.A. spend an average of 3.5 minutes of meaningful conversation with their children. We must take time to spend with our children and find – and create – teachable moments throughout the day, each day.

7 Ways To Prevent and Stop Bullying In All Its Forms

World issues are human issues, so as humans, we each have a part to play in solving them. We do not control our children, but we can be influential moms and set a standard at home.

1. Teach your children the Golden Rule. 

Teaching children to “do to others what you would like to be done to you” sounds like a lecture, but it’s more like a way of living.

2. Teach your children to be assertive.

Make sure they understand we can defend our rights without infringing on the rights of others. I am quite known to say the truth, even when it’s hard to hear. That doesn’t mean it has to be said in a harsh way.

3. Teach your children to be humble.

Pride can lead to conflict in any social setting. Now, I know that conflict and misunderstandings are normal and natural, but when they can be prevented, even better.

4. Teach your children to accept others.

Learning to celebrate our differences and finding our common ground is essential to getting along. Teach them to embrace others’ uniqueness and what diversity, representation, and inclusion mean.

5. Teach your children about love.

In English, the word love is so diluted. People can love pizza and they can love people. In my native language, we use different terms for how we feel about things and people, and I love that.

In the Bible, we read “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud,” and that is the kind of love we must teach our children.

I am learning to use this definition as a yardstick of whether I am loving or someone else is loving with me.

6. Pray for your children and with your children.

There is great power in praying. It creates a peaceful atmosphere at home and helps solidify everything you teach with a Higher Spirit.

7. Educate yourself.

Find information and resources, find support in establishing guidelines to protect, discipline, and guide your children. 

Let’s Prevent and Stop Bullying

It’s not enough to establish what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Our role as moms demands that we teach by example – modeling that behavior for them.

Bullying is a vicious cycle, and many of us have been bullies, victims, and bystanders, and some continue to be today.

Sometimes our actions are so loud that our children can’t hear our words. Fear and pride are weapons of a spiritual battle and at the root of bullying, and eventually, crime.

This October, let’s vow to prevent and stop bullying by standing up for what is right and training up our children to do the same.

Founder of the Positive MOM® and creator of the S.T.O.R.Y. System: a blueprint to craft and share powerful stories that will transform your results and help others do the same. Dr. Elayna Fernández is a single mom of 4, an award-winning Storyteller, Story Strategist, and Student of Pain. She’s a bestselling author, internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, and 5x TEDx speaker. She has spoken at the United Nations, received the President’s Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award, and was selected as one of the Top Impactful Leaders and a Woman of Influence by SUCCESS Magazine. Connect with Elayna at thepositivemom.com/ef and follow @thepositivemom. To receive a gift from Elayna, click HERE.

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