My son is being bullied at preschool nearly every day, in fact, almost all the kids are. This little boy is younger than all the other kids, and frankly isn’t even supposed to be in the preschool room, but was so hard to handle that they kicked him out of the toddler room and sent him in with the big kids hoping things would be better. Needless to say, they’re not. The teachers are getting beat up, the kids are getting beat up, and my son isn’t enjoying preschool the way he once was.
Bullies are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. We are constantly hearing about the bullying epidemic across America, but when it comes to knowing how to handle it, everyone seems to be at a loss. While I want my son to learn to stand up for himself, I also don’t want to teach him that it is ok to fight back either. It’s definitely a catch 22 in my book. I’m not entirely sure what to do about it. The teachers are aware of the problem, but are not trained to know how to handle a child like this, and with so many little kids running around it’s hard to see what’s going on every second of the day.
I’ve talked to several of my colleagues about the issue and I’ve received a wide array of advice from all of them. Some say to discuss it with the preschool director, other’s say to tell him to stay as far away from him as possible, and some have said to teach him to fight back. While there may not be one right answer in this situation I know that Logan and I will be having lots of conversations about how to avoid these confrontations at preschool until we can figure out a permanent solution to the problem.
If you find that your child is being bullied, make sure to keep the lines of communication open. They may feel embarrassed by the incident. They may even feel too scared to tell you about it. Share your own experiences with your child. Even as an adult we deal with bullies on a frequent basis, the world is full of them. Your child needs to know that they are not alone and that you are there to help them in any way that you can. If that means going to the teacher or the principal or calling a parent then so be it. Kids are going to get bullied on occasion. The important thing is that you are with them every step of the way and teaching them how to cope with the experience and hold their heads high.