Almost everyone is picked on by a bully at some point during their school years. I had kids be mean or rude to me occasionally, but all of my experiences were single incidents. No kids bothered me on a regular basis. When my boyfriend Ryan was in middle school he had a child who was bullying him fairly regularly. They had band class together and he would made rude comments to Ryan each class for a few weeks. He was advised by adults in his life to just ignore the comments and he tried to do that. It seemed as if the kid grew tired of him not responding anymore, so he increased his bullying to get physical. He threw a pencil across the room at Ryan. It wasn’t aimed very well so it didn’t get close to him, and he ignored it, only for the boy to continue doing this in additional days and eventually he had a better throw and it hit Ryan. Ryan was a type of drummer who used mallets, and he threw his mallet back at the boy and it hit him. Kids laughed and the boy who was struck by the mallet seemed embarrassed. After that, he left Ryan alone.
Looking back on it, Ryan recognizes that his response wasn’t very positive. He shouldn’t have thrown something back at the boy. However, he felt like he learned from the experience. He was shocked how easily the bully was embarrassed. It showed him that the boy wasn’t a big, strong tough guy like he tried to act. Instead, he was able to be embarrassed just as easily as the children who HE had been embarrassing. It was a good experience in the way that it let Ryan see that bullies are not big tough guys, they are struggling just like other kids, except they are behaving poorly as a result.
When we were kids, we could go home and be free from bullies. Modern day kids often feel attacked even at home, due to children being on social media. Jorden has friends who have dealt with bullies sending mean messages to them on Facebook and Instagram. One of her friends even started getting mean text messages from a phone number that she didn’t have programmed. Eventually they found out it was a girl in their grade who got her number from a mutual friend.
Today, October 3rd is stomp out bullying day. You can wear a blue shirt today to show support, and encourage your kids to wear blue as well. The stomp out bullying website is a great resource for parents, to help you help your children cope with bullies. Check out the bullying resources page for several articles.
Did you deal with a bully as a child, or are your kids currently trying to cope with a bully? What tips or advice do you have for handling the situation peacefully?
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Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
This post currently has 11 responses.
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Michelle S
We definitely need a world that is nicer and kinder to each other. Both my kids have experienced this, unfortunately it’s the world we have for now.
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Rosie
I was bullied a few times by a gang of girls, not sure why they targeted me, and I recall other kids being bullied. In those days, kids often didn’t think to tell their parents. It is good there is more awareness now, and kids don’t feel compelled to go along with the main person doing the bullying.
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kathy downey
Its so important to have awareness of this serious problem!
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This is such a sad situation. I hate that other kids feel like they have to bully to make themselves bigger. Just a sad part of our world for all that bully and are bullied.
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Amber Ludwig
I love this and wish this was everyday!! Bullying can be such a huge problem and yet it is often overlooked!!
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Laurie P
I really like that awareness is a thing now in schools!!
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This is a good effort. When I was a kid no one even ever dreamed of talking to any adult about being bullied or to each other. It just happened and no one said anything.
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ellen beck
We were bullied alot at various times. Most of the time it was because of where we lived and what we did and didnt have which was beyond our control. Back then, parents took care of it. The ones that bullied me had kids who attended a school my Mom worked at. she talked to the parents and I was pretty much left alone.
I can’t imgine the social media bullying nowadays. -
Great looking model. 😀 I’m not sure if I feel the same way about the bullying thing as the majority of Moms these days, I learned some important lessons early due to being bullied and those lessons served me well as I got older.
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Jeanine Carlson
I saw others getting bullied and I stood up for them. It’s been many years but one of the girls that I saw get bullied so many years ago was able to come to the reunion this past summer and she was able to show grace to the girls who bullied her. Such a great testimony!
We need to be encouraging kids about this more, so I’m glad there’s a day for recognizing the problem.