Monthly Archives: April 2014

Anti-Bullying, Bullying, SYN Digital Enrollment Director, SYN The Bully Expert

Bullying: When to involve the police

Hearing that your child is being bullied can be heartbreaking – especially when it’s severe. If the bullying your child is experiencing escalates to being threatened or physically assaulted,  you should involve the police to help resolve the situation.

 

Taking threats seriously

If a bully threatens your child, it should not be taken lightly. The bully may have said something threatening just to intimidate your child but it might also be a warning that they plan on carrying out that threat.

Not only could it lead to physical harm, the act of making a threat is against the law.

 

Act immediately to a physical attack

No one ever has the right to attack your child. When bullying becomes physical, it is time to act quickly and decisively before it happens again. Contacting the police will allow them to handle the situation and can be a strong deterrent  for bullies to continue harming your child.

 

Damaging property

Vandalism, theft and destruction of property are all crimes, so don’t let it go unaddressed just because it was done by a bully. If your child is mysteriously losing or breaking personal belongings, ask them if it was caused by a bully.

 

Next steps

If you’ve determined that a bully has crossed the line and is committing crimes against your child, you should contact the school and make them aware of the situation. They may wish to contact the police on their own, or you may have to report the incident to the police yourself.

You can simply call your local police department and explain that you wish to sign a complaint against a juvenile who has been bullying your child and has broken the law in doing so.

It is important to act quickly so the bully does not get another chance to target your child. But most of all, your child will be looking to you for reassurance that everything is going to be okay. Let them know that the bully has been brought to the attention of the school and the police and that it will be taken care of.

Child Fitness, Martial Arts, Online Safety, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

5 Ways To Help Your Child’s Education At Home

Parents are a child’s first and most influential teachers. Children’s lives begin at home and throughout their formative years, most of their time is spent there and its where a surprising amount of education can take place. Parents can help kids excel academically by taking the following steps:

 

1. Quality Time Together

Every parent is busy and has demands to meet. Despite those demands, it’s vital that parents carve out quality time to spend with each child. During this time, parents should ask their children about their day and about their studies. Every parent needs to take an active, interested role in the life of his or her children in order to nurture that child’s academic prowess.

 

2. A Supportive Home Environment

Every child needs a safe place where he or she feels loved and accepted no matter what. Parents should focus on creating such an environment at home. Stressful home environments where yelling, bickering or fighting are common can cause emotional distress and hinder a child’s academic abilities.

 

3. Unconditional Encouragement

Whether a child is a straight-A student or has difficulty passing classes, that child needs to hear words of encouragement from a parent. Parents can help their children do their best by complimenting each child and showing unconditional positive regard.

 

4. Communication with Teachers

Involved parents are able to help the children excel by communicating with teachers and other educators. At minimum, parents need to attend regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences. Keeping open lines of communication with teachers and a child’s school helps parents learn more readily when and if academic issues arise.

 

5. Monitoring Study Habits

Kids will be kids, and few of them actually enjoy studying. Parents need to monitor their children’s study habits and help them get assignments completed. This doesn’t mean that parents have to have all the answers or be able to do a child’s algebra homework. It does mean that parents take the time to make sure kids are studying rather than playing computer games. Providing small rewards such as a snack or active playtime between study segments can help to motivate and encourage struggling students.

Education begins at home. While parents send their children to school to learn even more, paying attention and remaining involved in a child’s education can help kids excel in any classroom.

Bullying, Child Safety, Discipline, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Bullying Suicide: 7 signs to watch for

News reports of bullying suicides by children and young adults continue to climb. And a new report sheds light on this scary trend, finding that bullying victims are more than twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts and actions than other children.

 

Warning signs

So how can parents tell if there child is at risk for committing suicide? Here are seven signs every parent needs to look for:

  1. A loss of interest in things they used to enjoy
  2. Appearing to feel hopeless
  3. Changes in appetite
  4. Increasing isolation from friends or family
  5. Sleeping too much or too little
  6. Writing or talking about death/dying
  7. Mentioning suicide

 

What should be done?

While the presence of any of these symptoms don’t necessarily mean that a child is contemplating suicide, it does mean that it is time for parents to step in and talk directly with their child.

Sitting down with the child and asking them to talk about it will be difficult for both parent and child, but often the warning signs are a cry for help. What that child needs is someone who will listen openly and not judge them.

Parents should find out if the child has a plan in place for committing suicide. If there is a time, place and means of suicide in mind, immediate action is required.

 

When to get help

Seek professional help right away, keep dangerous objects (including chemicals, medications, drugs/alcohol) away from the child and don’t leave them unsupervised.

If these details aren’t yet thought through, the situation is still very serious and should not be taken lightly. It may also mean seeking professional help or removing them from their current school.

Bullying suicides are a tragic result of harassment by peers. If parents, educators and friends know the warning signs to look for, it may be possible to prevent more tragedies.

 

Bullying, Discipline, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Discipline and the link to bullying

Most children are both victims and perpetrators of bullying. In many cases, bullying can be traced to discipline received at a very young age. Some forms of discipline have the unintended consequence of teaching bullying skills to small children. A good way to reduce bullying as a cultural phenomenon is to take bullying out of the equation when it comes to discipline.

 

Examples of Bullying Discipline

• Corporal punishment is a form of bullying because one person uses his or her power to hurt another. Discipline is supposed to teach, not belittle or hurt.

• Humiliating discipline such as forcing a bed-wetter to wear a diaper in front of others or standing a child in a corner in the classroom are forms of psychological bullying.

 

Motivating a Child With Positive or Logical Discipline

The most effective discipline is a logical consequence that has some relationship to behavior. Logical and positive discipline motivates a child to behave in an appropriate manner and demonstrates the reality that the behavior caused the consequence and not the adult. Computers, cellphones and TV are powerful behavior-management tools for motivating a child to improve behavior.

 

Examples of Positive and Logical Discipline

• Confiscate the cellphone – Many inappropriate behaviors are encouraged by texting and unlimited contact with peers. Young people with cellphones should give the phone to a parent at night to be returned in the morning on a regular basis. Lack of cooperation would logically result in not receiving the phone in the morning.

• Disconnect Internet – Youth bullying conflicts often begin on social networking sites. Cutting off access can stop an aggressive interaction dead in its tracks.

• Regular positive time with adult family members – If possible, have dinner as a family at a regular time as much as possible with no phone interruption, including parents. This is an opportunity to reinforce healthy eating, good manners and emotional connections. Regular and pleasant interaction with family members will prevent many behavior problems from occurring, which will avoid the need for some discipline.

Children and teens are all different and are entitled to be treated as individuals. Many will respond immediately to positive and logical discipline, and some will need many repetitions. A few may never be able to manage unlimited access to phones and Internet as long as they are minors.