How to Help Teens Cope with Bullying
02September

How to Help Teens Cope with Bullying

Written by Craig Rogers, Posted on , in Section Embracing Our Uniqueness

Because bullying is an issue that impacts so many teens, it’s very important for parents to help their children learn to cope with it. Bullying has been shown to have many negative effects, so having the right mechanisms to cope with it is necessary for young people who have encountered it. If they don’t deal with it properly, it can lead to lowered self-esteem, depression, feelings of isolation and loneliness. Because these consequences are so serious, it is essential that you seek to help your son or daughter in the most effective way possible if they are dealing with bullying.

Getting Help Can Make A Huge Difference For Bullied Teens

The most obvious way for young people to cope with a problem with bullying is to tell a trusted adult about what is going on so that they may help to eliminate the problem. This can range from telling a parent to working with the school administration to deal with the problem. If you’re the parent of a teen who you believe might be being bullied, encourage them to open up to you about it. Having someone to open up to about bullying issues can make the problem much more tolerable. However, many teens are too embarrassed or scared to tackle the problem this way, so they often keep it more to themselves, and the bullying continues. If this is the case, there are several other tips that have proved successful. At school, young people can try to go places with a friend nearby. Bullies tend to prey on people who they think they can easily make into a victim, and traveling in groups takes away the vulnerability. Similarly, parents can try to help their sons and daughters increase their confidence level so that they may feel more able to assert themselves and stand up to the bully. If all else fails, learning to ignore the bully is also a viable tactic, because they tend to eventually move on somewhere where they will get more attention. Bullying should never be taken lightly, as it can cause so many problems for the teenagers who have to experience it. Teaching coping strategies is key in making sure the issues discussed above never present themselves.