Are your children being bullied? Children are being bullied everyday inside and outside of school, even inside their homes. The internet has made it easier for our children to become victims. The attacks don’t always start at school. Sometimes the bully will befriend your child to see if they are an easy attack. How do they know if a child is an easy attack? Children who are needy, left alone on the computer, or attention seeking are often the first ones to be attacked by a bully or sexual predator. The technology we all love has allowed the bullies to come inside our homes without our knowledge.
Bullies are using the social networks we frequent to attack our children. A bully will create an account on a social network site such as Facebook, Myyearbook, Twitter, or Myspace. They will befriend the victim’s friends or families under a fake name to make their way to the victim. Often they’ll learn the victims inner most secrets to attack them. Once the secrets are revealed the victim’s life becomes a nightmare. Sometimes children don’t know how the bully got the information. They use information to plan out their attack. Sometimes they’ll befriend the victim themselves. By the bully using the internet, the child cannot get away from the hateful attacks anywhere.
There are ways to reduce the times your child is being terrorized by monitoring their phone calls, texts, and internet communication. It may seem like invasion of privacy, but it may help you deal with a problem before it explodes. The most important thing parents need to do is talk to their children about bullying on a regular basis. It doesn’t need to be done daily, but it needs to be often. It’s important for the parent to keep the lines of communication open. Children need to feel comfortable talking to their parents anytime. A parent needs to keep an open mind and remember not to overreact to a situation. Sometimes children will not tell a parent about the bullying. It’s important to be aware to that some children have commited suicide like 10 year old Ashlynn Conner of Ridgefarm, Illinois .
Since bullies have made their way into our homes it’s important to keep our eyes and ears open to the signs of bullying inside and outside of school. Don’t hesitate to seek mental health counseling for your child if they have been bullied.
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