One of the things that helped me with dealing with bullies is that my parents helped me to developed a strong sense of self-worth and confidence I think by telling me that it's OK to make mistakes and that through them we becoming better and better every day. And also the fact that it is impossible to be able to be liked by everybody.
I was the target of bullying as a kid, but I figured it out. It took a multi-prong strategy.
Sometimes, I just had to punch the bully in the face.
More often, laughing at the jokes a bully made at my expense confused and deflated them. This worked strangely well.
Finally, making friends with the bullies - or in some cases, allies - took care of the ones that didn't respond to the above two. Yes, this means in some cases, I ended up running in bully circles... but I like to think I mitigated some of their behavior. I'm too far removed from that time period to say for sure, though.
I was bullied mercilessly in high school.... Trying to befriend them, laugh with them, and avoid them never worked.
Public education is like Lord of the flies. Bullying makes some kids feel powerful, and others feed off that power or shrink from it less they become the target of the bullying. The only response to bullying that ever worked was when I punched them in the mouth. That was in the mid 2000s and no matter how much I complained, no matter how much my parents complained, the teachers and the administration did absolutely nothing.
The way to bully proof your kids is to remove them from public education. Private or homeschool.
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 25.9 ms ] threadSometimes, I just had to punch the bully in the face.
More often, laughing at the jokes a bully made at my expense confused and deflated them. This worked strangely well.
Finally, making friends with the bullies - or in some cases, allies - took care of the ones that didn't respond to the above two. Yes, this means in some cases, I ended up running in bully circles... but I like to think I mitigated some of their behavior. I'm too far removed from that time period to say for sure, though.
Not cowering before bullies, even if you have been beaten up works wonders. So does ignoring the tom fools.
Their goal to intimidate and make you fearful has failed at this point and it becomes far more problematic for them and their egos.
Public education is like Lord of the flies. Bullying makes some kids feel powerful, and others feed off that power or shrink from it less they become the target of the bullying. The only response to bullying that ever worked was when I punched them in the mouth. That was in the mid 2000s and no matter how much I complained, no matter how much my parents complained, the teachers and the administration did absolutely nothing.
The way to bully proof your kids is to remove them from public education. Private or homeschool.