Sweet Daughter Always Bullied
David Johnson Says...
Your daughter is very lucky to have an attentive and caring parent. You have been available and attentive, but it's clear it is time to signal a change in approach.
Encourage her to talk about her experiences with bullying, get the history and the details including and most importantly how she feels about it. Listen and tell her you understand and can feel her pain. Don't offer suggestions this time. Likely you've been doing this all along and it has not provided a solution. This is not because your suggestions haven't been helpful. Listening carries a different and important message. It validates her feelings and the importance of the issue. It also signals your change in approach.
Bullying is everywhere, and has been around as long as there were
schools. At some point however, schools and teachers stopped intervening
in bullying. It would appear that now schools are changing their approach and getting back involved. Go in with your daughter and meet with an administrator. Talk frankly about whats been happening and consider what the administrator suggests. Coach your daughter to implement some of the ideas that came out of the meeting.
Then get your daughter into counseling. Its likely her self-esteem is already an issue and she needs help to cope. Periodically, asked to be included in the session to get an update on the progress.
Page last updated May 04, 2013