Bullying, Part 2

I have this feature on the latest version of my blog software called QuickPress, and I feel compelled to try it out. You are the guinea pigs for this “Quick Blog” success story on addressing bullying.

One crossroads I think parents face when they learn of bullying behavior against their child is whether or not to talk to the other parent(s).

I took this risk recently, and had a very positive outcome (at least so far). A few factors swayed the situation to my favor:

1. The other parent is a friend of mine, and I was pretty sure she would listen without taking offense.
2. Our girls are still relatively young (9) so group repercussions are less likely.

In Bullying, Part 1 we talked about viewing the bully as a person, just one who has chosen some bullying behaviors. This is the position from which I addressed the parent. I asked how her daughter was doing, and wondered if anything was wrong because she had exhibited some behaviors that didn’t seem typical.

This approach worked well. The mom actually had her daughter come over and apologize, which was not at all my expectation but it was important to the mom that she do this. I’m SURE that was not easy for the girl, so she was pretty brave.

I’m not recommending you take this path of talking to the other parent(s) in every bullying situation. Case by case, I evaluate the risks and rewards of this action.

But I thought it would be encouraging for you to learn of a success when it comes to bullying.

Your turn: Do you have any “stop the bullying” successes to share?

Mama J (Diane Fromme) is a writer, parent, and stepparent in Northern Colorado. For more information on her book, Stepparenting the Grieving Child, visit www.dianefromme.com.

Tags: bullying, Communication, Elementary, parenting, Tweens