Changes in children’s behavior, nightmares, somatic pains and unwillingness to go to school are some of the signs that often correspond to bullying. A child who suffers bullying should be supported and not feel guilty. Parents and teachers must work together to put an end to the bullying situation.
What is considered bullying?
Bullying is any conduct by an individual or a group of individuals towards a peer or a group of peers with the sole purpose of harming that person. It can be physical abuse or verbal abuse with insults, threats or even coercion.
What are the consequences of bullying for the children who are bullied?
The psychological consequences of people who suffer from bullying are mostly emotional, with a significant increase in anxiety, also an increase in feelings of low mood that can lead to low self-esteem, sometimes even post-traumatic stress with the presence of flashbacks, nightmares and night terrors and especially with an attempt to avoid or escape when going to school.
What does the therapy consist of?
The therapy focused on what is bullying is always carried out in three ways, not only an intervention with the child, but also at the level of the school environment, since it is very necessary to talk to all the people who are present in that school environment (teachers, tutors, principals) to establish a plan of action environment, not only the child but a whole class group. Also important is the treatment at the family level, in which the children and the family are given the necessary skills so that the child can later be reinforced by the family environment and generalize these learned skills to the school environment. And finally, of course, the child’s own skills with a psychological intervention at the individual level.
For parents, how can they know if their child is being bullied? What should they do to prevent it?
When it comes to detecting bullying, parents know very well when something is wrong with their child, they see him more withdrawn, they see him more crestfallen with a sense of apathy, he does not feel like doing anything, probably looking for excuses to be late for school … It is absolutely normal to observe in children a change of behavior in things they used to like and now they no longer like, and emotionally it is quite representative when a child begins to have nightmares more often than normal, lack of appetite at mealtimes … all these are signs that the child is going through something. … all these are signs that something is happening to that child.
Normally, children who suffer bullying are usually children who do not tell their parents what is happening to them, either out of shame or for fear of retaliation from their peers, therefore, it is very important when this change in the child’s behavior happens to talk directly to the school if they have observed some kind of strange pattern or threat from their peers because it is true that this withdrawal can lead to the child not trusting their teachers either when it comes to telling the problem for the same reason. It is very important, as I said, the relationship between teachers and parents.